How It Started
by Destiny13
Summary: After discovering she's a witch, Lily Evans goes off to Hogwarts for her first year with her new friend,Megan.While there,pranks are inevitable from James and Sirius,prompting the girls to fight back.Please read and review and I do the same for you!
1. The Letter

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Harry Potter because if I did I'd be writing the real thing and not my own version! Please don't sue me J.K. Rowling-you already have tons of money and I'm practically broke (like most teenagers)!!!!  
  
Hi everyone! This is my first fanfic that I will actually probably finish because this time I will force myself to since people will hopefully be reading it! Here's a brief summary of what's in this story:  
  
Lily Evans has just found out she's a witch and she'll be starting her first year at Hogwarts. Since she's Muggle-born she gets help from the Johnston's who happen to live near-by. Mr. Johnston owns the local Muggle newspaper (and the Daily Prophet, but Lily doesn't know about that until later) so the Evans family never knew that they, the Johnston's were actually a family of witches and wizards. Lily becomes fast friends with Megan Johnston who is also starting her first year at Hogwarts. When the Johnston's take Lily and her family to Diagon Alley they meet up with some of Megan's other friends. They happen to include James Potter and Sirius Black. Lily immediately dislikes James (perhaps it has to do with a certain 'accident' that occurred when she met him). After that it's of to Hogwarts!  
  
So there's a brief summary. Hopefully I'll write all their other school years (I already know I'd kill one of the characters right after their graduation-but I'm not saying who because you don't even know their name yet!) So read and review please and thank you!!! If you like it I'll definitely keep writing and if you hate it I'll keep writing anyway! So hopefully you will enjoy my first ever fanfic that I'm letting people read! (I've written others but people never read them and they are currently shoved in my desk drawer.) And without further adieu here's the first chapter!  
  
How It Started  
  
Chapter 1:The Letter  
  
Ten and half year old Lily Evans always felt as though she would explode with the excitement she constantly felt when she woke up every morning. There were always so many new things to learn and do that she hardly ever felt bored. Today, July 17th, was no different. She couldn't explain it but somehow she knew that something special was going to happen. She rolled out of bed, her long red hair waving about her wildly as she skipped out her door and down the hallway. Just as she reached the stairs her older sister, Petunia, yelled from her own room, "Would you be quiet! You sound like a herd of elephants!"  
  
"And what's wrong with that?" Lily retorted before she slide down the stairs on her bottom.  
  
She landed at the bottom and stood up brushing herself off. Grinning widely, she skipped into the kitchen.  
  
"Morning dear," said her mother, who was busy making pancakes.  
  
"Morning mum!" Lily said happily, "Mmmm, pancakes!" she said happily as she caught sight of them.  
  
"I heard you and Petunia yelling at each other again," her mother said, "What are you fighting about now?"  
  
"Petunia said I sounded like a herd of elephants but I really hadn't been that loud, yet," said Lily with a mischievous smile, "I just slide down the stairs because she said that so I figured she should at least have some real noise to yell about."  
  
Her mother sighed, "Please don't fight with your sister Lily," she said, "You two used to get along so well."  
  
"Yeah, well, she started it," Lily said, "Ever since she got those new 'friends' she's acted like such a snob. I'll try not to fight as much with her though, OK mum?"  
  
Her mother smiled, "Good," she said, "Now that that's settled, would you set the table for me?"  
  
"OK!" Lily said and she started pulling out cutlery and plates. She took them over to the table and had just started when her father walked in carrying the morning paper.  
  
"How's my little girl?" he asked as he gave her a big hug and ruffled her hair.  
  
"Morning daddy!" Lily said as they pulled apart. She got back to work setting the table as her father sat down with his morning coffee and the paper.  
  
"Anything interesting in the news today?" asked her mother as she set a plate of pancakes on the table.  
  
Lily's father nodded, "Looks like another mysterious accident," he said as he showed her the front page headline, but blocking Lily's view.  
  
"What's it say?" Lily inquired as she tried to read it.  
  
Her parents looked at each other.  
  
"Well dear," her mother said slowly, "It seems that there was some kind of explosion and all the people in the house were . . . killed."  
  
Lily gasped, "That's horrible!" she said, "Do they know how it happened?"  
  
Her father shook his head, "Not yet," he said grimly, "Apparently all the firefighters who were called to the scene saw a strange apparition so it's a big mystery."  
  
"They were probably just imagining it with all the smoke," said Lily as she returned to setting the table.  
  
"Probably," said her mother, clearly glad that Lily was oblivious to the seriousness of the story, "Being a firefighter is a pretty stressful job, maybe they just need a vacation."  
  
Her husband nodded, "Yes, that's probably true," he agreed, also glad Lily wasn't dwelling on the scariness of the accident.  
  
Just then, Petunia entered the kitchen.  
  
"Good morning mother, father," she said as she sat down. She threw a dirty look at Lily who, smiling cheerfully, set a plate in front of her sister before taking her seat.  
  
"Morning dear," her mother said as she poured herself some coffee.  
  
"Morning Petunia," said her father as he piled pancakes onto his plate.  
  
Lily reached for the pancakes then dumped a large amount of maple syrup on them. Her mother took her seat and also reached for the pancakes but Petunia sat not eating anything.  
  
"Mother," Petunia said, "Is there perhaps a grapefruit in the refrigerator that I could eat instead?"  
  
Her mother was taken aback. "Yes," she said, "But I thought you loved pancakes."  
  
Petunia stood up and opened the fridge. She turned around holding a grapefruit, "I did, but not anymore," she said as she walked over to the counter were she cut the grapefruit into quarters. She placed three of the quarters into a bag, put them in the fridge then sat down with the other.  
  
"Why not?" asked her father as he looked up from his paper.  
  
"It's cause she's on a diet like all her new friends," said Lily in between mouthfuls, "I heard her talking about it a few days ago when Anna was over."  
  
"Eavesdropper!" Petunia said in a deadly voice, "I told you not to bother us."  
  
"Technically I wasn't bothering you 'cause I was in my own room," said Lily.  
  
"Petunia why do you want to go on a diet?" asked her mother, "You barely weigh a thing as it is. If anything you should start eating more."  
  
"Mother," Petunia said, "It's not about losing weight, it's about eating healthier. So that means no more fatty foods for me. I think I might even become a vegetarian because of all the health benefits I've heard about."  
  
Lily made a face, "You can't be serious," she said, "Why would anyone want to be a vegetarian?"  
  
"Lots of people are vegetarians Lily," said her mother, "Your Aunt Joyce is one and Petunia's right, it is a very healthy."  
  
"It still sounds gross," said Lily.  
  
They ate in relative silence until Mr. Evans looked at Lily over the top of his paper.  
  
"So Lily," he said, "What are you going to do today?"  
  
"Well," Lily said with a grin, "I thought I would go see if Michelle could play today because I really want to go down to the creek."  
  
"Why on earth would you want to go there?" Petunia said with a look of disgust.  
  
"To catch frogs," said Lily, "And if we're lucky maybe we'll even catch some tadpoles!"  
  
Petunia looked thoroughly disgusted at the idea and returned to picking at her grapefruit with her spoon.  
  
"Where will you keep them if you catch any?" asked Mrs. Evans.  
  
"Michelle has an old fish tank we can use," said Lily, "We can put them in there."  
  
"As long as you keep them out of this house it's OK," said Mrs. Evans, "The last time you kept them in the basement they all jumped out of the bucket."  
  
Lily giggled, "That was funny," she said.  
  
Mr. Evans nodded with a smile, "It was," he agreed, "Except it was hard to catch them."  
  
Lily giggled even harder, "You ran into the wall trying to catch one!" she said.  
  
"And you had the largest lump on your forehead!" Mrs. Evans said to her husband, "I guess it was funny when it's all said and done."  
  
"I still think it was disgusting," Petunia said, "Frogs are so . . ."  
  
She was interrupted by the arrival of an owl, which zoomed into the kitchen. Petunia screamed and ran out of the room. Mr. Evans stood up so quickly his chair toppled over backwards as he tried to shoo the owl away. Mrs. Evans and Lily also stood up but while her parents swatted at the owl Lily stared at in amazement.  
  
"Wow!" she gasped, "A real owl! This is so cool!"  
  
The owl suddenly landed right in front of her and she noticed it was carrying a letter in its beak.  
  
"Look mum!" she said as she took the letter, "It's a letter addressed to me!"  
  
"It must be some kind of joke from one of your friends then," said Mr. Evans as he stared at the owl which stood in the middle of the table.  
  
"Open it then dear," he mother said.  
  
Lily carefully broke the seal on the envelope and read aloud.  
  
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," she read, "Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards). Dear Miss Evans, We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment along with the address of a witch/wizard who has agreed to show you around. Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July. Feel free to voice any questions or concerns. Yours sincerely, Henrietta Griffin, Deputy Headmistress. P.S. We assure you this is no joke. Having grown up in the Muggle world we highly doubt that you have heard of the Magical one but it does exist. All is explained in the instructions." Lily looked at her parents, "Maybe it's not a joke after all," she said. She looked over the other pieces of paper. "Do we know a Miriam or James Johnston?" she asked.  
  
"I know a James Johnston," said Mr. Evans as he took the letter, "He owns the Morning Post. He doesn't live to far from here. I suppose we could give him a call. If it is a joke we can warn him that people are using his name in a scam."  
  
"Well, it'll have to wait awhile," said Mrs. Evans, "It's not even 9 o'clock yet and I doubt he would appreciate if you interrupted his Saturday morning. Wait until at least 11, then you can phone him, OK Lily?"  
  
Lily nodded, "OK mum," she said. She looked back at the letter and pulled out the list of supplies, "Ooo!" she said in surprise, "Listen to what I need! Three sets of plain, black work robes, one plain black pointed hat, one pair of protective gloves-wow! They have to be made from dragon hide or similar. And one winter cloak, black with silver fastenings."  
  
Her parents looked at each other. What would they do with Lily if it turned out to be a hoax? She'd be devastated.  
  
"Listen to these books!" Lily said excitedly, "The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1), A History of Magic, Modern Magical Theory For Students, Transfiguration Made Easy, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Magical Drafts and Potions, The Field Guide on Magical Creatures, and How To Protect Yourself Against the Dark Arts. Wow! These sound so cool! I also need a wand, a cauldron, a set of glass phials, a telescope, and a set of brass scales. And listen to this! Students may also bring an owl or a cat or a toad. This sounds so cool!"  
  
The owl was still sitting calmly on the table, watching Lily carefully. She turned and looked at it. She timidly put out her hand towards it and when it didn't attack her she started to stroke it gently.  
  
"Oh dear, you might not want to do that," warned her mother, "You don't know where its been."  
  
Lily rolled her eyes, "It's obviously not wild mum. Besides, I'll wash my hands after," she said, "And it's so cute!"  
  
Her mother still looked concerned but didn't say anymore as she cleared the table.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
"Can I phone now?" Lily asked her mother for what had to be the zillionth time.  
  
Her mother looked at the clock. It showed 10:55am. She turned back to Lily, "Oh, all right, I guess so," she said.  
  
"Yay!" Lily said excitedly. She grabbed the piece of paper and dialed the number. The phone rang once, twice, three times and had just started to ring a fourth time when someone answered.  
  
"Hello?" said a women's voice.  
  
"Hi, um, this is Lily Evans," said Lily, "Is this Mrs. Miriam Johnston?"  
  
"Yes it is," said the woman.  
  
"Um, well you see, I got this letter from a school called Hogwarts and they said to phone you to get more information," said Lily, she felt very nervous now.  
  
There was a pause. "What's the full name of this school?" asked Miriam.  
  
"Um, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," said Lily, "My parents think it might be a joke though."  
  
There was another pause, "Does it by chance say who the Headmaster is?" asked Miriam.  
  
"Uh, hold on, let me look," said Lily, "It says the Headmaster is Albus Dumbledore."  
  
"It's no joke then dear," said Miriam, "Hogwarts is a real school. In fact, I attended it for seven years myself."  
  
"It is? You did?" Lily stammered.  
  
"Yes dear," said Miriam, "Now, I'd rather talk to you and your parents in person about this. Would it be possible for me to drop by this afternoon for a chat? Or you could come over to my house, whichever is easier for you three."  
  
"Uh, hold on, I'll ask," Lily said. She covered the mouthpiece of the phone and turned to her mother, "She wants to talk us in person," she said, "Can she come over this afternoon? Or we can go to her house- whichever is easier."  
  
Mrs. Evans was quite taken aback, "Invite her over for 1:30 then," she said.  
  
"OK mum," Lily said. She then went back to the phone. "Is 1:30 OK?" she asked.  
  
"Certainly," said Miriam, "I will see you then Lily."  
  
"Bye then," Lily said happily.  
  
"Bye-bye dear," said Miriam and they hung up.  
  
Lily turned back to her mother beaming. "She said she'll be here," she said, "And I can't wait!"  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
I hope you enjoyed my first chapter! I'll try and finish up Chapter Two soon for you guys to read but it probably won't be up until next week cause I'm away this weekend. So read and review please (even if you though it was horrible and should burn in the fiery depths of hell)!  
  
FYI: I copied out almost the entire letter from the first book of Harry Potter but I deliberately changed some things just because this is before Harry's time so some things would obviously be different.  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	2. Mrs Johnston's Visit

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and the other 'real' characters don't belong to be but all the ones that I made up especially for this story do. The plot is also my idea too so don't steal it!  
  
Thanks for all the reviews you guys!!! They definitely made my day when I saw them all so this chapter's especially for you guys! And I apologize for the wait but I was on vacation and couldn't do much!  
  
Chapter 2: Mrs. Johnston's Visit  
  
Lily just couldn't sit still. Mrs. Johnston would be arriving at any minute to tell her all about her magic and her new school. Petunia had retreated to her room to avoid the 'freakishness' of the event. She thought the whole idea of magic was 'dangerous', 'madness' and 'unnatural'. Lily thought it was wonderful.  
  
At precisely 1:30pm, a car pulled into the driveway and a few seconds later, the doorbell rang.  
  
"I'll get it!" Lily shouted as she raced to the door. She flung it open to see a short, middle-aged woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. "Hi!" Lily said with a grin, "You must be Mrs. Johnston. I'm Lily Evans. Won't you please come in?"  
  
The woman smiled at her, "It's nice to meet you Lily," she said as she stepped inside. She looked around, "What a lovely house," she commented.  
  
Just then, Mr. and Mrs. Evans entered the hallway.  
  
"Hello," said Mrs. Evans, "I'm Martha and this is my husband, John. Thank you so much for coming over to talk with us."  
  
The grown-ups shook hands.  
  
"Oh it's my pleasure," said Mrs. Johnston, "It must have been quite a shock to receive that letter!"  
  
The Evans nodded as the group went into the living room and sat down.  
  
"It was rather unnerving," said Mr. Evans, "We thought it was just some silly prank."  
  
"I can imagine," said Mrs. Johnston, "That's what I thought when I received my letter all those years ago. You see, I'm muggle born so I'd never heard of Hogwarts either."  
  
"Muggle born?" said Mrs. Evans.  
  
"Oh, we call non-magical folk muggles," said Mrs. Johnston, "There's pure-blood magic folk, then there's the muggle born magic folk and then muggles and squibs who don't poses any magical abilities."  
  
"What's a squib?" asked Lily.  
  
"A squib is a person born into a magical family but doesn't poses any magical powers so they're virtually muggles," said Mrs. Johnston, "There aren't very many though. Well, enough talk for the moment. I suppose you would like to see some magic so you're positive this isn't a hoax." She withdrew a thin piece of wood from her purse. "This," she said, "is a wand. Just as no two people are the same, no two wands are the same. Mine is 9 ¼ inches long, made of juniper and containing a single unicorn hair. Now, is there anything in particular you would like me to do?"  
  
"Oh!" Lily said excitedly, "Can you turn me into a cat?"  
  
Mrs. Johnston looked at Mr. and Mrs. Evans, "If it's alright with your parents," she said.  
  
Both Mr. and Mrs. Evans shrugged.  
  
"You can change her back, right?" Mrs. Evans said looking slightly nervous.  
  
Mrs. Johnston nodded, "Of course," she said, "Now then, Lily. I want you to stay still and on the count of three I'll turn you into a cat. 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . Felinities!" She flicked her wand and a marmalade coloured cat replaced Lily.  
  
Mrs. Evans gasped in surprise and her husband stared in shock at the cat which had been his daughter only moments before.  
  
"And back again!" said Mrs. Johnston, "Restoro!" Instantly, Lily reappeared.  
  
"Cool!" she said.  
  
"Oh my," said Mrs. Evans.  
  
"That was certainly something," said Mr. Evans.  
  
"Can you turn my sister into a frog?" Lily asked excitedly.  
  
"Lily!" scolded Mrs. Evans.  
  
Mrs. Johnston smiled, "Strictly speaking, one is not supposed to perform magic on a muggle," she said.  
  
"Oh," Lily said looking disappointed.  
  
"There are very strict laws about how to use your magical powers," said Mrs. Johnston, "Underage wizards and witches are prohibited from performing any sort of magic outside of school. Absolutely no one is allowed to perform magic on or in front of muggles except under special circumstances. This just helps to keep muggles from finding out about us," said Mrs. Johnston.  
  
"Why don't you want muggles to know about you?" inquired Mr. Evans.  
  
"Most muggles would want us to use our magic to solve all their problems," explained Mrs. Johnston, "We prefer to just be left alone."  
  
"So most muggles don't know about magic?" asked Mrs. Evans.  
  
Mrs. Johnston nodded, "Yes," she said, "Some do for one reason or another but most have no idea."  
  
"What do they teach at this . . . school?" asked Mrs. Evans.  
  
"Oh, the basics of magic," replied Mrs. Johnston, "The theory behind it and the practical aspect as well. First years take Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Astronomy, Herbology, History of Magic and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Nothing too difficult."  
  
"Why do they teach a defence course?" asked Mrs. Evans.  
  
"Well, there's always one witch or wizard every couple centuries who gets involved in what we call the Dark Arts," said Mrs. Johnston, "The kids learn how to protect themselves against that sort of thing on the off chance something happens to them. But you don't need to worry, most kids never have to use that course in real life."  
  
"How do you know I'm a witch though?" asked Lily.  
  
Mrs. Johnston smiled at her, "Oh, there's ways of knowing," she said, "Has anything ever happened to you that just couldn't be explained because it was so unusual?"  
  
Lily thought a minute, for indeed there had been several unusual things that had happened to her over the years. When she hadn't studied for a test one time, school had been cancelled because of a blizzard. That didn't seem to odd but the lizard had been in the middle of April. Another time, she had gottan into a huge fight with Petunia and, as they fought, a large pimple had started to grow in the middle of Petunia's forehead. There were other things too.  
  
Lily looked up at Mrs. Johnston and smiled, "Yes," she said, "There's been some unusual and unexplainable things."  
  
Mrs. Johnston beamed at her, "Then you are most definitely a witch," she said.  
  
"Where are we supposed to but Lily's things though?" asked Mrs. Evans, "I've never heard of a store that sells wands or anything like that."  
  
"You need to go to Diagon Alley," said Mrs. Johnston, "It's in London. You'd have to exchange some of your money for wizard gold at our bank, Gringotts, before you could buy anything though. You could come with us next Saturday. We have to go to get our youngest her new things because she'll be starting at Hogwarts as well."  
  
"What's her name?" Lily asked.  
  
"Megan," said Mrs. Johnston, "She's very excited about starting school too but I think she'll miss her muggle friends and playing football (Author's Note: Since they're British they call soccer football and even though I'm Canadian I want this to be realistic.), volleyball and track and field. She's a big athlete so she's very excited about the possibility of trying out for her house's Quidditch team."  
  
"Quidditch?" Mr. Evans said.  
  
"It's our sport," said Mrs. Johnston, "It's played on broomsticks, with four different balls and seven players per team. It's a tad bit confusing at first but it's quite fun."  
  
"Wow!" said Lily.  
  
"What do you mean by house team?" asked Mr. Evans.  
  
"At Hogwarts there's four different houses that students are divided up into," said Mrs. Johnston, "Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Gryffindor. So far our whole family's been in Gryffindor."  
  
"So basically the houses are like dorms?" said Mrs. Evans.  
  
"Exactly," said Mrs. Johnston, "But students are not assigned to the houses. They are judged at the sorting and split into the houses that suit each individual best. It all depends on your personality. Gryffindors are usually brave; Ravenclaws are usually highly intelligent; Slytherins are usually very cunning; and the rest go to Hufflepuff. Each house is named after one of the original founders of Hogwarts and the students of each house are chosen based on what that founder valued the most."  
  
"When was the school founded?" asked Mr. Evans.  
  
"Oh, a very long time ago," said Mrs. Johnston, "No one really knows the exact date but it was hundreds of years ago."  
  
"So it's not the original building then?" said Mr. Evans.  
  
"Oh, it is," said Mrs. Johnston.  
  
"Is that safe?" asked Mrs. Evans.  
  
"Very safe," Mrs. Johnston assured her, "You'd be amazed at how clean you can get things when you use magic."  
  
Mrs. Evans looked slightly relieved. "Where is it then?" she asked.  
  
"It's hidden away from prying eyes," said Mrs. Johnston, "If a muggle looks at it all they'll see is the illusion of an old abandoned house. There's all sorts of other muggle repelling charms on it too, so it's very well hidden and very hard to find."  
  
"It certainly sounds interesting," said Mr. Evans.  
  
Mrs. Johnston looked at her watch, "Oh my!" she exclaimed as she stood up, "I'd better get going. I'm supposed to be meeting up with some people later. Sorry I have to run, you probably have so many more questions. Tell you what, we'll pick you up to go to London Saturday at 10 o'clock in the morning."  
  
"Sounds like a plan then," Mr. Evans said as the all stood up and walked Mrs. Johnston to the door.  
  
"If you have any questions feel free to call us," said Mrs. Johnston, "Could I possibly have your number though? Just in case we need to change something?"  
  
Mrs. Evans scribbled their phone number on a piece of paper from the table in the hallway and handed it to Mrs. Johnston.  
  
"Here you go," Mrs. Evans said.  
  
"Thank you and I will see you Saturday, if not sooner," said Mrs. Johnston as she left.  
  
The Evans family called goodbye and then closed the door.  
  
"Well that was certainly interesting," said Mr. Evans as he looked at his wife.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
That's the end of the chapter! I know it's not quite as good as the first one but chapter 3 should be up either later today or tomorrow. So please read and review!!!  
  
FYI: Yes, the Megan mentioned is supposed to be me. I just used a fake last name so that no one can stalk me. I chose Johnston because if you look in the phone book it's a pretty common name. Also, so you know, I'm trying really hard to think of a good song for the sorting but it's really hard! (Especially when you lack the ability to rhyme.) I'll try though. Worse comes to worse I steal one from the books and alter a few words so that technically its not the same.  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	3. Diagon Alley Part 1:Gringotts

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and the 'real' characters aren't mine (please don't sue me!) but the others and the plot are so no stealing!  
  
Here's chapter 3! Hopefully you'll enjoy it! I had to split it into 2 parts because my computer's a piece of junk so here's part 1 and part 2 will be up momentarily-I hope. Once again, please read and review!!!  
  
Chapter 3: Diagon Alley Part 1-Gringotts  
  
The past week had seemed like an eternity for Lily because Petunia had been absolutely awful towards her. She was constantly slapping and screaming at Lily about nothing. Lily wasn't really scared of her sister but it was still unsettling. Her parents were furious with Petunia and had grounded her for the remainder of the summer holidays but that meant that to escape her sister, Lily had to leave the house. She had never been more relieved that they didn't have to share a room.  
  
Finally, Saturday dawned sunny and bright. Lily was worried that Petunia might be forced to come with them but her parents had called Mrs. Evan's sister, Shirley, to come watch her. Aunt Shirley had been told about Lily's news and thought it was wonderful. She arrived at 9:45am and greeted Lily with a big hug.  
  
"Oh, this is so exciting!" she said as she released Lily, "I bet you can't wait to go! You'll have to tell me all about everything!"  
  
Lily grinned at her. Aunt Shirley was one of her favourite people in the world. They even looked similar.  
  
"Don't worry," Lily said, "I will."  
  
Aunt Shirley looked around, "Where's Petunia?" she asked.  
  
"In her room," said Mrs. Evans, "She's to stay in there unless she has to go to the bathroom or is having lunch. She's been absolutely horrible to Lily this past week so she's grounded until school starts."  
  
"Why's she acting up?" asked Aunt Shirley.  
  
"She doesn't like the idea of magic," said Lily.  
  
Aunt Shirley sighed, "She does seem like the type who wouldn't approve of it," she said, then she brightened, "Oh well, don't let her get to you Lily, she's probably just jealous that you get to go and she doesn't."  
  
Just then a car pulled into the driveway.  
  
"That must be them," said Mrs. Evans, then she called up the stairs, "John! They're here!"  
  
Mr. Evans hurried down the stairs and the group went outside.  
  
"Thanks for watching Petunia," said Mrs. Evans.  
  
"We really appreciate it," added Mr. Evans.  
  
"Bye Aunt Shirley!" said Lily before following her parents down the steps.  
  
"Bye!" Aunt Shirley called after them, "And have fun!"  
  
"We will!" Lily called back.  
  
Mrs. Johnston and a tall, sandy haired man with brown eyes, presumably Mr. Johnston had gottan out of the car. The man extended his hand to Mr. and Mrs. Evans.  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said as they shook hands, "I'm Jim (Author's Note: Sometimes people with the name James go by Jim so I'm using it to avoid confusion with James Potter.) Johnston." He looked down at Lily, "You must be Lily," he said. He turned back to the car, "Megan, get out here!" he said.  
  
A girl's head appeared in the window and she tumbled out of the car. She was about the same height as Lily and had blue-grey eyes. Her dirty blonde hair was cut short so that it hung just below her ears. She wore a red t-shirt, jeans and a pair of sneakers. She looked very much like quite the tomboy and Lily, being a bit of a tomboy herself, immediately liked her. She smiled at Lily.  
  
"Hi!" she said brightly, "I'm Megan!"  
  
Lily grinned, "Hi," she said.  
  
"Well, we should go," said Mrs. Johnston said as she looked at her watch.  
  
They all piled into the car (the Johnstons in the front and the Evanses in the back), waved good-bye to Aunt Shirley and drove off.  
  
Megan was fidgeting in the front seat between her parents. She turned to her father.  
  
"Why can't we enlarge the back like we did before?" she asked, "I wanna sit next to Lily so we can talk."  
  
"Because we're traveling like muggles which means no magic," her father said sounding exasperated.  
  
Megan turned to her mother but before she even said anything her mother cut her off. "No," said Mrs. Johnston.  
  
Megan spent the next 5 minutes sulking as the adults talked about a variety of things.  
  
Finally, after about 30 minutes, they arrived in London. Mr. Johnston parked the car and led the group downtown. They stopped quite suddenly.  
  
"This is where we go in," he said, "The Leaky Cauldron."  
  
The Leaky Cauldron looked rather dark and shabby. Lily wouldn't have even noticed the small pub if Mr. Johnston hadn't pointed it out. The other people on the sidewalk didn't even seem to look at it. Their eyes slid from the big bookstore to the little souvenir shop. In fact it was almost as if they couldn't see. It didn't seem like her parents could either.  
  
"What are we looking at?" asked Mrs. Evans, looking confused.  
  
Mr. Johnston slapped his head, "Blimey!" he said, "I forgot! Muggles can't see it unless the go inside!" He turned to Lily, "You can see it though, right?" he asked.  
  
Lily nodded, "Uh huh," she said.  
  
"We'll lead you two inside," said Mr. Johnston as he opened the door.  
  
Mr. Evans took Mr. Johnston's hand and Mrs. Evans took Mrs. Johnston's hand and they were led inside. Megan grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her in too.  
  
When they had entered the pub, Mr. and Mrs. Evans looked around in amazement.  
  
"Learn something new everyday," commented Mr. Evans.  
  
"Now, the entrance to Diagon Alley's back here," Mr. Johnston said and the group followed him to the back.  
  
They stopped in front of a wall and Mr. Johnston pulled at his wand. He tapped one of the bricks. It wiggled and a small hole appeared. In seconds the hole had turned into an archway that led to a cobbled street.  
  
"Welcome to Diagon Alley," said Mr. Johnston.  
  
The group filed out into the street and headed towards a large snowy- white building. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a scarlet and gold uniform, was . . .  
  
"A goblin," Mr. Johnston whispered, "Gringotts is run by goblins so you'd be mad to try and rob it."  
  
Lily looked over at her parents to see their reaction. Her mother was shaking but her father seemed fascinated by the creature. Mr. Johnston ushered the group through the doors and they found themselves facing another set of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:  
  
'Enter Stranger, but take heed  
Of what awaits the sin of greed,  
For those who take, but do not earn,  
Must pay most dearly in their turn,  
So if you seek beneath our floors  
A treasure which was never yours,  
Thief, you have been warned, beware  
Of finding more then treasure there.'  
  
"Like I said," Mr. Johnston said as they stepped through the silver doors, "You'd be mad to try and rob it."  
  
Hundreds of goblins were scattered around the place. Most were working at the large counter, scribbling notes, weighing coins or studying jewels. Others were showing people around.  
  
The group went up to the counter.  
  
"Hello there," Mr. Johnston said to a free goblin, "We're here to pick up some gold from the Johnston vault, it's number 983 and they're here to exchange some muggle money for wizard money."  
  
"Do you have the key for vault 983?" asked the goblin.  
  
Mr. Johnston pulled out a tiny golden key, "Here you go," he said as he handed it to the goblin.  
  
The goblin studied it, "This seems to be in order," he said, "I'll have someone take you down. Clinkstone!"  
  
Another goblin appeared and the first goblin spoke briefly with him.  
  
"I'll stay here to help you exchange you're money," said Mrs. Johnston.  
  
"Can Lily come down to the vault?" asked Megan.  
  
"If it's alright with her parents," said Mrs. Johnston.  
  
Both girls turned to Lily's parents with pleading looks.  
  
"Go ahead," said Mrs. Evans.  
  
"Yay!" both girls said excitedly before following the new goblin, Clinkstone, and Megan's father. Clinkstone held the door open for them and Lily, who had expected more marble was surprised. They were now in a narrow stone passageway with railway tracks on the floor. Clinkstone whistled and a small cart came hurtling towards them. They climbed on and sped off down the passage at a shocking speed. Once, Lily saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage.  
  
"What was that?" she asked.  
  
"Probably a dragon!" Megan said excitedly.  
  
"A dragon?" Lily asked, "Those are real?"  
  
"Duh!" Megan said, "Dragons are super cool! You should see them!"  
  
Quite suddenly they stopped in front of a small door in the passage wall. They stepped off the cart and Clinkstone opened the door to reveal heaps of gold coins. Lily gasped as she looked around the vault. As Mr. Johnston scooped some of the coins into a little black bag, Megan held up three different coins.  
  
"The gold ones are Galleons, the silver ones are sickles and the bronze ones are Knuts," she said, "17 sickles to a Galleon and 29 Knuts to a Sickle."  
  
"Wow," Lily said as she took the coins from Megan and looked at them.  
  
Megan bent down, scooped up a few coins for herself and dumped them into her pocket. Lily handed back the coins and they also disappeared into Megan's pocket.  
  
"Ready to go girls?" Mr. Johnston asked and they all climbed back onto the cart.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
OK, there's part 1 and onto part 2, if it'll load.  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	4. Diagon Alley Part 2:Wands and Boys

Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue, I'm broke.  
  
Here's part 2 of Diagon Alley! Enjoy and please read and review!  
  
Chapter 4: Diagon Alley Part 2-Wands and Boys  
  
When the arrived back at the main floor Lily was very keen to go out and buy her things. The group left Gringotts and looked around outside.  
  
"How about the girls get their uniforms?" said Mrs. Johnston as she pointed at a shop called Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.  
  
The group went into the shop and a smiling witch with curly black hair greeted them.  
  
"Hogwarts?" she asked when she saw Megan and Lily, "Follow me then dears." She led them to the back of the shop. She pulled long black robes over each of the girls and called another witch over. Both began pinning the robes to the right length.  
  
"I'm so glad about finally starting at Hogwarts!" Megan said as she turned to look at Lily.  
  
"Do you know lots of magic already?" asked Lily.  
  
Megan shook her head, "No, I need to go get my wand today too," she said, "I grew up just outside a muggle subdivision because my parents wanted us kids to learn all about both worlds. My dad owns the Morning Post so muggles think he's just like them but he also owns the Daily Prophet, which is a big wizarding paper. My mom just stays home with us kids though. What do your parents do?"  
  
"My dad works at an insurance office," said Lily, "But my mom stays home like yours."  
  
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" asked Megan.  
  
"I have an older sister, Petunia, but I don't get along with her," said Lily, "She doesn't like the idea of magic much."  
  
Megan raised an eyebrow, "Really?" she said, "Sounds snobbish to me."  
  
"She is," Lily said, "What about you? Any brothers or sisters?"  
  
Megan nodded, "Yep," she said, "My oldest brother, Alex, is going into his 7th year at Hogwarts. Then there's the twins, Katie and Zack, they're going into they're 4th year at Hogwarts. I'm the youngest, just like you."  
  
"You have a pretty big family," said Lily.  
  
Megan shrugged, "I know people with bigger," she said, "Besides, our house is big enough so it doesn't matter."  
  
"That's it," said the black haired witch as both witches stood up straight, "You're both done."  
  
The girls hopped down from the stools and carried their new robes up to the counter. Their parents paid for them before leaving the shop. They bought their schoolbooks, paper and quills at a shop called Flourish and Botts before going to buy their cauldrons and scales. Then they stopped at the Apothecary and bought some basic potion ingredients before heading off to Ollivanders to buy their wands.  
  
Lily and Megan happily discussed many things-mostly magic related-but fell silent as they entered the wand shop. An old man appeared from the back of the shop and walked over to them.  
  
"Ah! The Johnstons," he said in greeting, "And you've brought some new people with you I see."  
  
Mr. Johnston nodded, "Yes, John, Martha and Lily Evans. They're here to get Lily her wand," he said, "Megan needs one too."  
  
"Another muggle born witch then I take it?" said the man, "Well, I'm Mr. Ollivander, owner of this shop. Now, down to business then." He pulled out a tape measure, "Which of you would like to go first then?" he asked as he eyed the two girls.  
  
"I will," Megan said.  
  
"Which is your wand arm then?" asked Mr. Ollivander.  
  
"Uh, I'm right handed," Megan said.  
  
"Hold out your arm then, that's it," said Mr. Ollivander and suddenly the tape measure was measuring by itself. "Every wand has a core of a powerful magical substance. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers and dragon heartstrings. None of are wands are the same and you will never get quite as good results with another's wand," he said as he searched the shelves. He returned to the group with several long, thin boxes. "That will do," he said and the tape measure crumpled on the floor. He pulled a wand out of one of them and handed it to Megan. "Try this one. Oak and unicorn hair, 10 ½ inches," he said, "Give it a wave . . ."  
  
Megan waved the wand but almost instantly, Mr. Ollivander snatched it away. "Try this one," he said as he handed her a new one, "Holly and dragon heartstring, 12 inches . . ."  
  
Megan started to wave it but it was quickly snatched back by Mr. Ollivander and he handed her a new one. "Birch and phoenix feather . . ." he started but then snatched it back.  
  
Lily noticed Megan rolled her eyes but Mr. Ollivander was already handing her another wand. It took several more tries until . . .  
  
"Rosewood and unicorn hair, 11 ½ inches . . ." he said as Megan raised the wand and brought it down rather forcefully. Several silver and red sparks shot out of it. "Oh, bravo!" exclaimed Mr. Ollivander as the group clapped delightedly as Megan grinned.  
  
"Your turn Lily," she said.  
  
Mr. Ollivander picked up the tape measure. "Which is your wand arm?" he asked Lily.  
  
"Uh, my right," Lily said and the tape measure started measuring her as Mr. Ollivander flitted through the shelves pulling out more boxes.  
  
He held one of the wands out to Lily, "Here, try this one," he said, "Beech with dragon heartstring, 13 ½ inches . . ."  
  
Lily took the wand and waved it slightly before Mr. Ollivander snatched it back, replacing it with a new one.  
  
"Mahogany with a phoenix feather, 8 ¼ inches . . ." he said, but it too was quickly snatched back and replaced. "Willow and unicorn hair, 10 ¼ inches . . ."  
  
Lily felt a sudden warmth from the wand and when she brought it down several silver and blue sparks shot out of it. "Well done!" said Mr. Ollivander as the group congratulated a beaming Lily. Mr. Ollivander wrapped up both wands and the group left.  
  
"We should probably stop for lunch," said Mrs. Johnston as she pointed at a little restaurant.  
  
As the group walked over to the patio to sit down, two boys came hurtling down the street. When Megan saw them her face split into a grin.  
  
"Well if it isn't James Potter and Sirius Black!" she yelled.  
  
The two boys spun around to look at her. One, the skinnier of the two, had messy black hair, brown eyes and glasses whereas the other had long black hair and dark but smiling eyes.  
  
"MJ!" yelled the boy with glasses as the two ran over, "You getting your stuff too?"  
  
Megan nodded, "Yep," she said, "Oh guys, this is Lily Evans. Lily, this is James Potter-" she pointed at the boy with glasses then the other, "And this is Sirius Black. They're starting at Hogwarts this year too."  
  
The boys studied Lily and then James extended his hand.  
  
"It's nice to meet you," he said rather solemnly.  
  
Lily eyed the hand suspiciously then shook it.  
  
"Don't be such a prat," Sirius said as he smacked James in the back of the head. He turned to Lily, "You muggle born?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah," Lily said slowly.  
  
"Don't let my parents find out if you can help it," said Sirius, "They think Hogwarts should only let in 'pureblood' wizards. I, on the other hand, don't think it matters because muggle born wizards have just as much talent as purebloods."  
  
"Your parents aren't here, are they?" Megan asked looking slightly nervous.  
  
Sirius shook his head, "Nah," he said, "I came with the Potters."  
  
"Where are your parents anyway?" asked Megan as she looked at James.  
  
James shrugged, "I dunno," he said, "Shopping?"  
  
Megan rolled her eyes and turned to Lily, "These two," she said as she jerked her thumb at the boys, "Are the biggest pranksters you could ever imagine. I bet Mr. and Mrs. Potter are cleaning up after them again."  
  
"We aren't that bad," James said indignantly.  
  
Just then, Mrs. Johnston walked over.  
  
"Why hello boys," she said, "What a nice surprise to see you. But where are your parents?"  
  
James looked around a bit, "There they are!" he said, as he pointed at a man and a woman who had just come into view carrying several shopping bags. "Oy!" he yelled at them, "Mum! Dad! Over here!"  
  
After introductions the group sat down to enjoy lunch. The salad course passed without incident, as did the main course but when it reached dessert Sirius flicked some of the peanuts from his sundae at James, who promptly retaliated by flinging a spoonful of ice cream at Sirius but instead, it hit Lily.  
  
"Oops," James said sheepishly, "Here, this will help." He handed her a plain blue napkin.  
  
Lily's glared at him, eyes blazing, but accepted the napkin. She wiped off her face but when she looked up, James was howling with laughter, as was Sirius.  
  
"James Potter!" screamed Megan, "That was a horrible thing to do!" She handed Lily her napkin, but only after carefully studying it.  
  
Lily looked at her, "What's wrong?" she asked.  
  
"You're now worse off then you were before," Megan said as she pulled out a small mirror, "Here, look."  
  
Lily looked at her reflection and saw that her face was covered in what looked like blue ink. She promptly picked up her bowl of ice cream and dumped it on top of James' head. Megan quickly followed suit on the laughing Sirius.  
  
From that moment on, Lily despised James Potter and, to some extent, Sirius Black.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
So, there you go so read and review please!!! Hopefully you're enjoying this little story of mine so far and, if you're not, then don't read it anymore because it really doesn't make a difference to me. I'll try and have the next couple of chapters up soon-especially since I leave for a big camping trip in a few days with some friends.  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	5. Platform 9 and Three Quarters

Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue-I'm broke, all my money was just spent on my camping trip!  
  
Here's chapter 5! Sorry about the wait but I was on my wilderness camping/canoe trip up north in Quetico (it's in Canada)! I have so many mosquito bites but it was awesome! Anyway, hope you like this chapter!  
  
Chapter 5: Platform 9 and ¾  
  
After the 'accident' at Diagon Alley with James Potter and Sirius Black, Lily and Megan had both been grounded for a week. Megan later told Lily that both the boys had been grounded too, but Lily was still furious at the two pranksters. Megan was used to it and shrugged it off but agreed revenge was in order. The two girls spent the remainder of summer vacation plotting their revenge.  
  
Finally, September 1st arrived and the Johnston and Evans families met at King's Cross in London at 10:30 to take the train to Hogwarts. The Evans family was introduced to the other three Johnston children; Alex, the oldest-who looked very similar to his father and was also the new Head Boy at Hogwarts; and the twins, Katie and Zack who both greatly resembled their mother.  
  
"Where are the other students?" asked Mr. Evans as he looked around the nearly empty station.  
  
"Oh, they're probably on the platform already," said Mrs. Johnston, "It's hidden, just like the Leaky Cauldron. See the barrier between platforms 9 and 10? Well, you pass through it to get to platform 9 and ¾. Here, watch Alex. Go ahead dear."  
  
Alex nodded and set off, pushing his luggage in front of him. As he neared the barrier, he broke into a run before disappearing from sight.  
  
"Katie, Zack, you two go," said Mrs. Johnston and the twins also disappeared at the barrier.  
  
Megan turned to Lily, "I'll go with you," she said.  
  
The 2 girls set off at a slow jog, pushing their things in front of them. Just as they were about to hit the barrier, it seemed to melt away and was replaced by a platform with a gleaming red train with the words 'Hogwarts Express' written across it. Lily looked and saw the other three Johnston kids standing nearby. Alex gave her an encouraging smile and she grinned back at him.  
  
A few seconds later, the 4 parents appeared. Mr. and Mrs. Evans looked thoroughly shaken.  
  
"Magic sure is interesting," commented Mr. Evans as he surveyed the platform.  
  
"A muggle I presume then," came a cold voice from behind. The group turned to see a tall, thin man with neat black hair standing with a woman who was also very thin, and had shiny black hair, which hung loosely down her back. They would have been an attractive looking couple except they were wearing very disapproving, and slightly menacing, expressions.  
  
"Hello Nathaniel, Vanessa," Mr. Johnston said rather stiffly, "Here to see Sirius off?"  
  
The man smiled, sending chills up Lily's spin, "But of course," he said, "And why are you here?"  
  
"Megan's starting at Hogwarts as well," Mr. Johnston said, and Lily noticed he was slowly turning angry, "We also had to drop off Alex, Katie and Zack. Alex is the new Head Boy you know."  
  
"No, I didn't know," said Mr. Black, "My, what a surprise, I always assumed that only purebloods would receive such an honour. Times certainly have changed, haven't they Vanessa?"  
  
His wife nodded slowly, "Yes," she said, "For the worst I'm afraid."  
  
Mr. Johnston had gone rather red in the face. Mrs. Johnston moved forward and whispered something to him and he calmed down. She then turned to the Blacks.  
  
"Where's Regulus?" she asked politely.  
  
Mrs. Black frowned at her, "We left him at home so he would not come into contact with tainted blood before he's ready," she said sharply.  
  
Mrs. Johnston didn't even bat an eyelash, "Oh, I see," she said, "It's nice to see parents looking out for their children. Especially with all these strange 'accidents' occurring."  
  
The Blacks appeared stunned.  
  
"Well, we must be going," Mr. Black said quickly, "Must find Sirius and all. Excuse us."  
  
Mrs. Johnston smiled sweetly, "Of course," she said, "Bye now."  
  
When the Blacks had disappeared, Mrs. Johnston turned back to the group. She rolled her eyes as the smile slid off her face.  
  
"I cannot believe that those people are Sirius' parents," she said as she shook her head, "He's such a nice boy and they're just horrible."  
  
"They're part of a minority that think Hogwarts shouldn't let muggle born witches and wizards in," explained Mr. Johnston.  
  
"They don't like us much because mum's muggle born," Megan said, before using a choice word to describe the Blacks. (Author's note: think of jack and donkeys)  
  
Her mother whipped out her wand, "Scourgify!" she said and soap bubbles appeared in Megan's mouth. "Don't you ever say that again!" she said as Megan spit a few bubbles out, "That's completely inappropriate! Who taught you that?"  
  
Megan whipped her mouth, "Alex," she said without hesitation.  
  
"What? I did not!" Alex said.  
  
"Alex! How many times have I told you to watch your language around your sister?!" shrieked Mrs. Johnston as people turned to see what the commotion was about.  
  
"Mum! You're embarrassing me!" said Alex.  
  
"Well you should've thought about that before you taught your little sister that word!" Mrs. Johnston shrieked at him.  
  
Lily noticed Megan was fighting back a grin, as were Katie and Zack.  
  
"I've heard Katie and Zack use the word too," Megan said helpfully and immediately Katie and Zack glared down at her but Megan wasn't fazed at all. She plowed on before Mrs. Johnston could start screaming again. "And dad's used it too," Megan said, "And you called Mr. Gallagher one last week after he left, I heard you. So technically you should wash everyone's mouths out with soap."  
  
Everyone stared at her in shock. Suddenly, Mrs. Johnston started giggling and soon everyone else was laughing. Megan grinned triumphantly from ear to ear at having avoided serious trouble.  
  
Just then, the train's whistle sounded signaling that it was about to leave. The group hurriedly stowed the luggage away and the kids climbed into one of the last carriages after hurried good-byes before the train set off.  
  
"Katie, you have to try out for the Quidditch this year!" Mr. Johnston.  
  
"OK!" promised Katie.  
  
"Remember to write!" Mrs. Evans called to Lily.  
  
"I will!" Lily said.  
  
"Zack, if I get one more owl about you throwing dungbombs at people I will personally come to Hogwarts and drag you home myself!" yelled Mrs. Johnston.  
  
"I only did that one time!" Zack yelled back.  
  
"Alex, make sure you keep an eye on them!" said Mr. Johnston.  
  
"I will!" Alex called back.  
  
"Be good Megan!" Mrs. Johnston said, "And don't get into any trouble!"  
  
"Me? Trouble?" Megan gasped in mock surprise.  
  
"You know what I mean," Mrs. Johnston said, "Just because you're a Metamorphmagus don't think you can get away with anything. Professor Dumbledore already knows."  
  
"Mum!" whined Megan, "He didn't need to know!"  
  
"Oh yes he did!" said Mrs. Johnston, "I know all about your little stunts!"  
  
Just then the train started to move forward. With a final wave, they were off.  
  
"Well, I have to go up front to talk to the prefects," Alex announced, "I'll see you four later." And with that, he left.  
  
"Yeah, I better go too," Katie said, "Mary and Claire will be waiting for me."  
  
"I better find Dan and Erik then," said Zack.  
  
"Bye," Katie said as they left.  
  
Megan and Lily grinned at each other.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
So there's chapter 5! Hope you guys don't mind the terrible ending but my computer's really messed up and I had to shorten this so it would upload. Anyways, thanks for reading and please review!!!  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	6. The Train Ride

Disclaimer: I just wish Harry Potter was mine.  
  
Here's chapter 6! Originally the first part of this was with chapter 5 but seeing as my computer was being a pain in the butt I had to change some stuff. Anyways, enjoy!  
  
Chapter 6:The Train Ride  
  
"Hey," Lily said, "What did your mum call you before we left?"  
  
"A Metamorphmagus," Megan said.  
  
"What's that mean?" asked Lily.  
  
"It means I can change my appearance at will," Megan said, "I was born with the ability but they're aren't many of us. There hasn't been one in my family for generations."  
  
"So you can't just become one?" asked Lily.  
  
Megan shook her head, "Nope," she said, "But you can become an Animagus- that means you can transform into an animal at will-or you can use a potion or spell. But we won't learn how to do that for a long time."  
  
"How come?" asked Lily.  
  
"Blimey Lily!" Megan said, "It's dangerous! Well, if you don't know what you're doing it is."  
  
"Oh," Lily said, "But you can change your appearance to be anything you want then?"  
  
Megan nodded, "Yeah, but I'm still not very good yet," she said, "It's really hard."  
  
"Can you show me?" asked Lily.  
  
Megan nodded and she squeezed her eyes shut, wrinkling her nose as she concentrated. There was a small popping noise and her hair turned red to match Lily's. She grinned at Lily who smiled back. Megan concentrated again and with another pop her hair returned to normal. Suddenly, her grin widened.  
  
"You know what?" she said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I think I just figured out the perfect revenge," whispered Megan, "I'll tell you later though, OK?"  
  
"OK," Lily agreed.  
  
Just then, the door slid open to reveal James Potter, Sirius Black and two boys Lily had never met. One looked rather pale and sickly with messy looking brown hair but had sparkling grey eyes. The other looked like a tag-a-long and was rather chubby with small watery eyes and mousy brown hair.  
  
"Hello there ladies," Sirius said cheerfully as he bowed to them, "Lovely day isn't it?"  
  
"Oh stuff it," Megan said as she rolled her eyes, "Hi Remus, Peter and look who has the nerve to join us, Mr. James Potter himself. You and Sirius may want to make yourselves scarce at school. Do not rest assured-we will have revenge so you two may want to sleep with one eye open."  
  
"Uh oh," James said to Sirius, pretending to be worried, "We're in trouble now."  
  
"You most certainly are," Lily said as she grinned at Megan.  
  
"You boys won't know what hit you," Megan agreed with a grin.  
  
"Oh really?" James said, "Is that so?"  
  
"It is so," Lily countered.  
  
"Should I be worried?" the chubby boy asked, looking slightly nervous.  
  
"No," Megan reassured him, "You and Remus weren't even there so you have nothing to worry about. Oh Lily, that's Peter Pettigrew-" she pointed at the chubby boy, "and that's Remus Lupin," she pointed at the other boy, "Guys, this is Lily Evans."  
  
"We know," Remus said, "They told us all about what happened and I told them they should watch their step, especially after those spicy 'treats' you slipped them." When Lily looked curious he added, "They wouldn't stop shooting smoke out of their ears and mouth so they had to go to St. Mungo's."  
  
"The wizarding hospital," Megan explained.  
  
"That was just plain mean by the way," Sirius said.  
  
"This from the guy who thought it would be funny to push me off a cliff," Megan said.  
  
"You're a Metamorphmagus, you could've changed into a bird," said Sirius, "And you pulled me down with you."  
  
"What happened?" Lily asked.  
  
"I broke practically every bone in my body," Megan said.  
  
"So did I!" Sirius said.  
  
"You landed on top of me and only broke your arm," Megan said.  
  
"But you're OK now, right?" asked Lily.  
  
"Oh yeah," Megan said with a nod, "Broken bones are really easy to fix with the tap of a wand. The only reason they kept me over night at the hospital was to keep me from killing Sirius."  
  
"You tried to put poison in my healing potion!" said Sirius.  
  
"For the last time, it wasn't poison," said Megan, "It dragon dung."  
  
"Don't forget about the rain cloud she made follow you around for 2 days," said James, "Now that was good!"  
  
"No it wasn't!" said Sirius.  
  
"Yes it was," Megan said, "You needed a shower, I could barely breathe when I was in the same room as you."  
  
"That was because you poured Stinksap all over me," said Sirius.  
  
"Well, you shouldn't have pushed me off that cliff," Megan said.  
  
"It was his idea!" Sirius said as he pointed at James.  
  
"I said it as a joke-I wasn't serious!" James said quickly, "Besides, she turned my hair green and it wouldn't change back for a week."  
  
"Not to mention the Niffler she set loose in your room," Remus added helpfully.  
  
"What's a Niffler?" asked Lily.  
  
"They're little animals that like shiny things," explained Megan, "They're quite useful in finding treasure but they can tear places apart if you set them loose. However, in this case, that was the point."  
  
"It ripped up all my Quidditch posters!" James said angrily.  
  
Megan shrugged, "You should've thought of that before you tried to sneak one into my room," she said, "Besides, I was only returning it to you. You're lucky I don't believe in 'finder's keepers.' Right Lily?"  
  
Lily nodded, "Right," she agreed with a grin.  
  
"Now boys," Megan said, as a sweet smile appeared on her face, "I'd like to have a chat with Lily so you four can leave."  
  
"But we don't want to leave," James said, "Do we boys?"  
  
"No we don't," Sirius said but Peter and Remus were already edging towards the door.  
  
"Well then, would you like to help me practice Transfiguration?" asked Megan, "You see, I've been wondering if I can turn people into frogs but I haven't had a chance to practice yet."  
  
The words had barely escaped her lips and the boys had bolted for the door. It wasn't so much the threat that made them leave, it was more of the idea of what would happen when the spell went wrong.  
  
Megan and Lily collapsed into giggles and it took several minutes for them to calm down. They then spent the rest of the train ride exchanging stories. Lily was fascinated by Megan's stories of pranks and revenge (most of which involved her causing some sort of discomfort for James and Sirius) and Megan was equally fascinated by Lily's stories about how awful Petunia was.  
  
"Well, when you go home for Christmas you should give her some Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans," Megan said after one Lily's stories.  
  
"What are those?" Lily asked.  
  
"They're like those jellybeans that muggles eat," Megan explained, "You get all the usual flavours like chocolate, peppermint and caramel but you also get things like grass, vomit and earwax-basically things you don't really want to eat. They're lots fun and I can almost always tell which ones taste gross. We could pick out the bad ones and put them in a little bag for her."  
  
"She's on a diet right now though," said Lily.  
  
"So?" Megan said, "Tell her they're sugar free then."  
  
"I still don't think she'd eat them," said Lily.  
  
"Well it wouldn't hurt to try now would it?" Megan said.  
  
"You know," Lily said thoughtfully, "You, James and Sirius seem a lot alike, except you're not arrogant like them."  
  
"Really?" Megan said with a raised eyebrow, "How so?"  
  
"Well," Lily said, "For starters, you all really enjoy pranks and revenge."  
  
Megan grinned, "True," she said.  
  
"You all seem like the type of people who get in trouble a lot," Lily said, "But you also seem like you get away with a lot."  
  
"The joys of being the baby in the family."  
  
"You're all obsessed with Quidditch."  
  
"Of course."  
  
"But you seem smarter then those two."  
  
"Well reading helps," Megan said, "I'm pretty sure those two never read and it wouldn't surprise me if they can't read."  
  
Lily giggled, "It wouldn't surprise me either," she said.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
OK, so that contained a lot of pointless chatter but I was feeling rather inspired as far as prank ideas go. Chapters 7 & 8 should be up sometime soon. Chapter 7 may even be up later today, we'll see. Anyway, please review and thanks again for all the support and suggestions!  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	7. The Arrival & The Sorting Hat

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all other 'real' characters belong to J. K. Rowling but the others are mine-so no stealing.  
  
Here's chapter 7! Enjoy! And please review!  
  
Chapter 7: The Arrival & The Sorting Hat  
  
The train began to slow and Lily looked outside.  
  
"Where are?" she asked.  
  
Megan joined her at the window. "We must be in Hogsmeade," she said, "It's the only all magical town in Britain. Hogwarts will send something to pick us up."  
  
"Something?" Lily asked, looking slightly nervous.  
  
"Well yeah," Megan said, "Enchanted carriages or something like that."  
  
"Oh," Lily said, clearly relieved.  
  
Once the train had stopped, the two girls exited the train. The heard a booming voice calling, "Firs' years! Firs' years! Over here firs' years!"  
  
"Come on!" Megan said as she grabbed Lily and pulled her over towards the voice.  
  
They stopped in front of a very large man who smiled down at them.  
  
"Now I know you," he said to Megan, "Your Jim Johnston's youngest aren't you? Megan, right?"  
  
Megan nodded, "Hi Hagrid," she said, "This is Lily Evans. We're both starting at Hogwarts."  
  
Hagrid beamed at them, "Well, wait here until we have everyone then," he said as he ushered them over to a small group of first years. He then went in search of more.  
  
"He's huge!" Lily whispered.  
  
Megan grinned, "I know," she said, "Isn't he awesome?"  
  
When all the first years had been rounded up, Hagrid led them down a steep path.  
  
"You'll be getting your first sight of Hogwarts now," he said as they rounded a corner.  
  
There were several gasps from the crowd as they saw the castle in the distance.  
  
"No more then four to a boat!" Hagrid said as he ushered the group down to the edge of the lake.  
  
Everyone piled into the boats. Lily and Megan were joined in there's by two of Megan's friends, Karen Carranza and Carol Ngai. Hagrid looked around to make sure everyone was accounted for.  
  
"Alright then, forward!" he said.  
  
All at once, the little fleet of boats moved forward across the smooth surface of the water towards the cliff on which the castle stood.  
  
"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliffs and everyone ducked as they sailed beneath the dangling ivy.  
  
Upon reaching the shore everyone clambered out and Hagrid looked around once more.  
  
"Everyone here?" he asked and everyone nodded. "Right then," he said before turning to knock on the door three times.  
  
Immediately, the door swung open to reveal a tall, black-haired with glasses and a very stern face. Lily's first impression was that this was not someone to cross.  
  
"The firs' years Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said.  
  
"Thank you Hagrid, I will take them from here," she said as she indicated for the group to follow her.  
  
She led them down the hallway and slowly the noise of hundreds of voices grew. It was coming from a door on Lily's right but Professor McGonagall showed them into an empty chamber off the hall which they crowded into.  
  
"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall, "The start of term banquet will commence shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall you will be sorted into your houses. The sorting is a very important because while you are here at Hogwarts your house will be like your family. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room. There are four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while and rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to your new house. The ceremony will begin shortly in front of the rest of the school so I suggest you smarten yourselves up while you wait. I will return for you shortly and please wait quietly."  
  
She left and Lily looked at Megan nervously.  
  
"How exactly do they sort us?" she asked.  
  
Megan shrugged, "Some sort of test or something," she said, "Zack was saying it hurt a lot but Alex and Katie said it's not hard at all."  
  
"Does it involve magic?" asked Lily.  
  
Megan shrugged again, "Maybe, I dunno," she said.  
  
Lily looked and saw James and Sirius trying to convince Peter that if he failed the test he would be doomed to live as an outcast. Megan snorted at the pair.  
  
"You two are nuts," she said, "Don't listen to them Peter, you'll do fine."  
  
Just then, Professor McGonagall returned. "Now form a line," she said, "And follow me."  
  
She led them across the hallway to the Great Hall. Several students gasped as they entered. Thousands of candles floated in mid-air around the room where the rest of the students were sitting at four long tables. To avoid having to look at the staring faces of students, Lily looked up at the ceiling and was shocked to see that it resembled the sky outside.  
  
"It's bewitched," Megan whispered as McGonagall led the group up to where the teachers were sitting.  
  
Lily looked down as McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On it, she placed an extremely old, patched and frayed looking pointed wizards hat.  
  
"Do we have to get a rabbit out of it?" Lily heard Peter ask in a whisper.  
  
She noticed that the entire hall was now staring at the hat so she stared at it too. For several seconds, there was complete silence then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and the hat began to sing:  
  
"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, But don't judge by what you see, For I will eat myself if you should find, A smarter hat then me.  
  
There may be many hats around, Some small ones and some tall, But I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat And I can cap them all.  
  
There's nothing hidden in your head, That I the Sorting Hat can't see, So try me on and I will say Where you ought to be.  
  
You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where dwell the very loyal, The patient Hufflepuffs are true And unafraid of toil.  
  
Maybe in wise old Ravenclaw Is where you'll find your kind, Here dwell those of wit and learning, All you need is a ready mind.  
  
Or it might be Slytherin, Where you'll make real 'friends', These cunning folk do anything So as to achieve their ends.  
  
Or lastly daring Gryffindor, Where dwell the brave at heart Their daring nerve and chivalry, Set these ones apart.  
  
So try me on, be unafraid, And don't get in a flap! You're in good hands my friend For I'm a Thinking Cap!"  
  
The whole hall burst into applause as the hat bowed to each of the four tables before becoming quite still again.  
  
"So we just have to try on a hat!" Megan said, "Wow, can you say easy?"  
  
Lily nodded, "Yeah, how hard can trying a hat on be?" she said.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
So there's chapter 7 and chapter 8 will be up soon! Please review though! Thanks!  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~  
  
FYI: OK, so I kind of stole some stuff from J.K.Rowling to make my sorting song but I changed a lot of it, I substituted words and rearranged some things so it is technically my song so please don't steal it-I worked really hard on it. 


	8. The Sorting Ceremony

Disclaimer: I only wish Harry Potter and all associated characters were mine.  
  
Here's Chapter 8 with the rest of the sorting!  
  
Chapter 8: The Sorting Ceremony  
  
Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a long roll of parchment. "When your name is called, you will put the hat on and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said, "Adams, Gabriella!"  
  
"RAVENCLAW!"  
  
The table second from the left clapped as she joined them.  
  
"Ambacher, Kristin!"  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
The table on the far left cheered as she joined them.  
  
"Appleman, Mildred!"  
  
"SLYTHERIN!"  
  
The table second from the right cheered as she joined them. From what Lily saw of the Slytherin table she felt sorry for Mildred.  
  
More and more names were called and Lily was slowly starting to feel nervous.  
  
"Black, Bellatrix!"  
  
"That's Sirius' cousin," Megan whispered.  
  
"SLYTHERIN!"  
  
"Black, Sirius!"  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
Lily groaned.  
  
Several more names were called and then . . .  
  
"Evans, Lily!"  
  
Lily hurried forward and put the hat on. She nearly jumped out her skin when she heard a voice inside her head.  
  
"Well, well, well, what have we here," said that hat.  
  
"I'd really like to be in Gryffindor," Lily thought.  
  
"You'd like to be in Gryffindor, eh?" said the hat, "Well lets see. You have lots of courage, a good amount of intelligence too-you'd do well in Ravenclaw-and what's this? Well that's certainly interesting so where will I put you?"  
  
"Please put me in Gryffindor," Lily thought, "I'm almost positive that's where Megan will end up."  
  
"So you'd like to be with your friend then would you?" said the hat, "Well I can see why. Well you'll do well there so better be GRYFFINDOR!" The last word was shouted for the whole school to hear.  
  
Lily removed the hat and hurried down to the cheering Gryffindor table.  
  
Lily waited as more names were called.  
  
"Johnston, Megan!"  
  
Megan practically ran up to the hat and jammed it on her head, all the while grinning from ear to ear. The hat had barely touched her head when it yelled "GYFFINDOR!" Megan pulled the hat off to cheers from the Gryffindor table (her siblings and Lily cheering the loudest) and then proceeded to do a little victory dance across the stage, causing nearly everyone in the Great Hall to start laughing, before she joined the Gryffindor table.  
  
More and more names were called. Soon, Remus and Peter had also joined the Gryffindor table. When James was called, he swaggered forward and put the hat on, a cocky grin on his face. A few seconds later . . .  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
Lily groaned as the other Gryffindors cheered. Sirius and James high-fived as they grinned at each other.  
  
Finally, when the last name had been called, McGonagall put the sorting hat away as the old man in the middle of the high table stood up. He had long white hair and a long white beard to match. He was wearing long navy blue robes and his blue eyes twinkled behind his half moon glasses as he smiled at the students.  
  
"That's Albus Dumbledore," Megan whispered, "The headmaster."  
  
"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts," said Dumbledore, "However, this is no time for speechmaking but a time for eating. Enjoy!"  
  
This statement was met with clapping and cheers. As soon as he sat down, the dishes were suddenly piled high with food. As Lily piled food onto her plate she looked around and noticed what appeared to be silvery, semi- transparent people floating about.  
  
"Are those ghosts?" she asked in a whisper.  
  
"What?" Megan said as she poured gravy over her potatoes, "Oh, yeah, those are ghosts."  
  
Just then, a ghost with a ruff around his neck settled down across the table.  
  
"Hello there," he said in greeting, "My name is Sir Nicholas de Mimsy- Porpington, the resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."  
  
Megan's mouth dropped open, "I know who you are!" she said, "You're Nearly Headless Nick!"  
  
"I would prefer to be called Sir Nicholas-" the ghost began but he was interrupted by one of the blonde twin boys, Aaron or Shawn Ashmore, Lily didn't know which.  
  
"Nearly Headless?" he said, "How can you be nearly headless?"  
  
Sir Nicholas looked rather miffed, as the conversation was not going at all in the way he had planned. "Like this," he said as he seized his left ear and pulled. Suddenly, his whole head swung off his neck and onto his shoulder as if on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him but had a done a rather poor job of it. All the first years seemed rather stunned, except Megan who was stuffing her fist in her mouth to avoid laughing.  
  
"And what pray tell is so funny?" Nick asked as he swung his head back onto his neck.  
  
"Nothing," Megan said when she had finally regained control of herself.  
  
Nick frowned at her. "Well, I think I've lingered here long enough," he said, "Excuse me." And with that he floated off.  
  
The rest of dinner was rather uneventful and the conversation slowly turned to their families. Lily discovered that she wasn't the only muggle born Gryffindor first year; Kristin Ambacher, David Beckham, Erin Bowering, Stephen Costella and Carol Ngai were also muggle born. The rest of the first years (Aaron and Shawn Ashmore, Sirius, Karen Carranza, Brittany Groeneweg, Megan, Remus, Julie Perna, Peter and James) all came from families with some kind of wizarding background.  
  
When all the plates had been cleared, Dumbledore stood up once more and immediately the room fell silent.  
  
"Now that we are all fed and watered, I have a few start of term notices," he said, "First years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And some of our older students would do well to remember as well. Our caretaker, Mr. Filch, has asked me to also remind all of you that no magic should be used between classes in to corridors. And finally, Quidditch trails will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Professor Van Haren. Now that that's done, before we go off to bed, let us sing our school song!"  
  
Lily noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather strained.  
  
Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick and a long golden ribbon flew out of it. It rose high above and twisted itself into words.  
  
"Everyone pick their favourite tune," Dumbledore said, "And off we go!"  
  
And the school bellowed:  
  
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,  
  
Teach us something please,  
  
Whether we be old and bald  
  
Or young with scabby knees,  
  
Our heads could do with filling  
  
With some interesting stuff,  
  
For now they're bare and full of air,  
  
Dead flies and bits of fluff,  
  
So teach us things worth knowing,  
  
Bring back what we've forgot,  
  
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,  
  
And learn until our brains all rot."  
  
Everyone finished the song at different times. At last, only James and Sirius were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they'd finished he was the one clapping the loudest.  
  
"Ah, music," he said, "A wonderful form of magic. And now, bedtime so off you go!"  
  
The Gryffindor first years followed Alex through the crowd, out of the Great Hall and up a marble staircase. Lily felt very tired as they climbed more stairs. She almost didn't notice that the people in the portraits along the corridors were moving and whispering. Finally, they reached the end of a corridor where a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink dress hung.  
  
"Password?" she asked.  
  
"Phoenix Flame," replied Alex, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall.  
  
The group scrambled through it and Alex directed the boys through one door to their dormitories and the girls through another. At the top of a spiral staircase, they found their beds. The girls split into two groups of four (Lily, Megan, Karen and Carol in one group and Kristin, Erin, Brittany and Julie in the other) and entered their rooms to find four-poster beds with deep red velvet curtains. Their belongings had already been brought up. To tired to talk much, they pulled on their pyjamas and fell into bed. Within seconds, Lily had fallen asleep.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Originally the following author's note was it's own chapter but because of the new rules that's no longer allowed. So here is the list of students at Hogwarts. I have it more for my sanity than anything else really. However, I am not in anyway shape or form guaranteeing that all of these people will actually be mentioned in the story. They probably will at some point or another (if I remember) but here are the lists anyway.  
  
P.S. You can amuse yourselves by counting how many celebrity names I used. And Jen, I through in a certain character from a certain movie that we saw this summer-lol-and yes you're evil.  
  
GRYFFINDOR  
  
1st years: Kristin Ambacher, Aaron Ashmore, Shawn Ashmore, David Beckham, Sirius Black, Erin Bowering, Karen Carranza, Stephen Costella, Lily Evans, Brittany Groeneweg, Megan Johnston, Remus Lupin, Carol Ngai, Julie Perna, Peter Pettigrew, and James Potter  
  
2nd years: Arthur Anderson, Bradley Bennett, Christopher Daniels, Katrina Davidson, Robert Drake, Michael Freeborn, Amanda Gilmore, Daniella Lewis, Evelyn Matthews, Christopher Ralph, Samantha Smith, Victoria Thomas, Mark Wilkinson, and Jennifer Woodsworth  
  
3rd years: Orlando Bloom, Benjamin Brewster, Daniel Harris, Russell Kingswood, Sophia Loren, Joshua Hartnett, Ashley Hunter, Jenna Parker, Vivienne Perna, Joanne Rowling, Brendan Scott, and Jacob Sinclair  
  
4th years: Thomas Anderson, Joseph Bennett, Andromeda Black, Mary Clemens, Amelia Costella, Cassandra Daniels, Daniel Davidson, Claire Felton, Erik Ferguson, Katherine Johnston, Zachary Johnston, Natalie Scott, Elizabeth Snow, Patrick Thomas, Matthew Wilkinson, and James Woodsworth  
  
5th years: Daniel Carranza, Katiya Di Carlo, Julia Freeborn, Andrew Groeneweg, Marcus Hewitt, Nicholas Hockings, Francine Hunter, Allison Longbottom, Curtis Ngai, Peter Norton, Benjamin Sinai, and Margaret Sinclair  
  
6th years: Jennifer Anderson, Zachary Bennett, Justin Cambria, Kelly Ferguson, Jessica Gunton, Dustin McKinnon, Lillian Mulder, Elizabeth Goeller, Paul Perna, John Peters and Bradley Scott  
  
7th years: David Bennett, Sylvia Bonato, John Costella, Lauren Daniels, Audrey Davidson, Alice Griffin, Michelle Hunter, Alexander Johnston, Frank Longbottom, Tyler O'Connell, William Saxon and Kevin Sinclair  
  
SLYTHERIN  
  
1st years: Mildred Appleman, Lucas Avery, Bellatrix Black, Sebastian Crabbe, Simon Gallagher, George Goyle, Jasmine Hazelwood, Rodolphus Lestrange, Lucuis Malfoy, Evan Rosier, Severus Snape, Jennifer Strong, Eugene Wilkes  
  
2nd years: Cameron Caldwell, Gregory Clarkson, Yvonne Dinsdale, Igor Karkaroff, Velma Kelly, Norman Osborn, Clifford Powell, Joseph Quinlan, Augustus Rookwood, Sylvia Thorpe and Gary Tipple  
  
3rd years: Ruby Appleman, Benjamin Arnolds, Ethel Atkinson, Conrad Birch, Joel Burgess, Carl Fletcher, Priscilla Hazelwood, Roderick Mulciber, Alfred Pinnock, Paige Valetta, Estelle Warner and Leon Wilkes  
  
4th years: Elmer Ackroyd, Elvira Crampton, Petronilla Gallagher, Olga Hagerman, Oscar Meyer, Rosamunde Overton, Alfonso Rosier, Cigfolla Tipple, Boris Warrington, Lloyd Webber and Harvey Weinstein  
  
5th years: Lucinda Arnolds, Reginald Atkinson, Virginia Bouillard, Seymour Caldwell, Percival Crampton, Adolf Dinsdale, Mabel Pinnock, Hector Powell, Wanda Stenson and Sylvester Valetta  
  
6th years: Herman Affleck, Lawrence Birmingham, Edna Crabtree, Antonin Dolohov, Phyllis Fletcher, Connor Gallagher, Gertrude Lampman, Markold Rookwood, Gustav Rosier, Dominic Travers, Lionel Webber and Horace Weinstein  
  
7th years: Belinda Burgess, Montgomery Burns, Geraldine Dowswell, Lavinia Hart, Maximilian Overton, Waylon Smithers, Bertha Padfield, Ector Warrington and Ludwig Wellington  
  
RAVENCLAW  
  
1st years: Gabriella Adams, Angela Bassett, Emily Booth, Lorraine Everett, Brian Kennedy, Stacy Redman, Anne Sharp, Derek Stevenson, Seth Williams, Dennis Wilson and Jacob Young  
  
2nd years: Barbara Bushby, Jordan Butler, Rafael Everett, Bernadette Holman, Harvey Jones, Stephanie Knowles, Annette Manning, Lucille McKinnon, Trevor Moore, Cynthia Nixon, Margaret Philips, Hillary Shields and Anthony Turner  
  
3rd years: Chelsea Adams, James Dawkins, Brittany Henry, Angelica Huston, Stanley Marshall, Michael Moore, Frances Rain, John Redman, Bridgett Sharp and Ingrid Third  
  
4th years: Carl Bassett, Alan Booth, Florence Henderson, Fredrick Kennedy, Michelle Miller, Gloria Morningstar, Anne Murry, Agnes Rookwood, Eleanor Schultz, Christine Smith, Richard Stevenson, Timothy Turner and Evan Williams  
  
5th years: Julie Andrews, Jocelyn Arnolds, Gretchen Grundler, Kristin Kurek, Anthony Hassock, Victor Hoffman, Ethan Manning, Brigitte Morrison, Hillary Nixon, Sharon Osborn, Thomas Parker, Rebecca Shields, Bernice Yanful and Joel Young  
  
6th years: David Campbell, Matthew Collins, Erica Gillies, Beatrice Glanville, Paul Graham, Shelby Moore, Elizabeth Seton, Felicity Shackle, Charlotte Sheppard, Penelope Shore, Felix Stevenson, Rebecca Taylor and Oscar Whittman  
  
7th years: Roberta Arnolds, Larry Blackman, Joshua Clark, Timothy Cookson, Claire Dawkins, Bryan Ellis, Monica Gilbert, Chloe Lemieux, Keitha McKinnon, Paula Parker, Abigail Simmons and Leah Sinai  
  
HUFFLEPUFF  
  
1st years: Ludovic Bagman, Nicolas Carter, Amanda Dobson, Melissa Fairbanks, Henry Forbes, Lisa Gibbons, Jeffery Harding, Colin Ho, Bertha Jenkins, Diane LaBelle, Andrew Larkin, Christopher Northcott, Elaine Richardson, Cassady Sica, Susanne Summers and Joanna Wilcox  
  
2nd years: Abigail Abercrombie, Daniel Archer, Annabelle Baker, Amber Brown, Stanley Cooper, Henry Ford, Alec Greene, Thomas Henderson, Leighanne McCormick, Colleen Miller, Albert Peterson, Rebecca Plum, Caroline Rhea, Anne Seton, Hilda Spellman, Penelope Tate, Geoffrey Thompson and Kenneth Windsor  
  
3rd years: Ellen Abbot, Nora Abrams, John Arbuckle, Kevin Bacon, Amy Carter, Gordan Fraser, Susan Forbes, Hannah Gibbons, Howard Hughes, Kayla Jones, Alicia Kennedy, Bruce Lipson, Ian McAllister, Georgina Nicholson, Austin Powers, Sarah Ross, Kurt Wagner and Shelby Weaving  
  
4th years: Larry Abercrombie, Karen Brown, Christopher Cooper, Doris Day, Josephine Dobson, Jonathon Edwards, Flora Fairbanks, Douglas Jenkins, Gilderoy Lockhart, Elliot McCormick, Gladys Nightingale, Dolores Price, Rosemary Richardson, Donald Sutherland, Beverly Thompson, Maude Wilcox and Philip Windsor  
  
5th years: Andrea Baldwin, Amos Diggory, Harrison Ford, Cornelius Fudge, Jeremy Kazmierczak, Craig Kinnear, Kimberly Larkin, Veronica Lodge, Brianne McCormick, Dominic Monroe, Brittany Murphy, Bernard Nicols, Ralph Nisbet, Howard Rolon, Shirley Temple, Sybill Trewclay and Meredith Windsor  
  
6th years: Larry Abbot, Martin Baxter, Agatha Christie, Kelly Clarkson, Dean Edwards, Hank Forbes, Madeline Greene, Pamela Janson, Frank McCourt, Debra Messing, Daniel Miller, Grace Peterson, Ryan Seacrest, Lindsay Stewart, George Windsor and Elijah Woods  
  
7th years: Louis Andrews, Emma Baldwin, Heather Carson, Nora Edgecomb, Holly Fairbanks, Eleanor Fitzgerald, Kyle Grant, Robert MacMillan, Ruth Mason, Liam Newton, Harry Osbourn, Louise Price, Charles Schultz, Mitchell Stanford, William Turner and Boris Westman  
  
TEACHERS  
  
I'll think of them as they're needed. Obviously Dumbledore, Flitwick and McGonagall are there and I think I'll throw in Sprout and some others, we'll see what happens.  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~  
  
Can you tell I started having some fun with the names? I used the names of a bunch of my friends and some celebrities (mostly because I'm too lazy to think of a lot of names that actually sound good although some of the celebrity names were flukes). I also decided to throw in 'Austin Powers' just for fun. Anyways, if you actually read this whole thing I'd be surprised but it just makes me feel better knowing you have some idea of how messed up my brain is.  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	9. Slytherins and Potions

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine.  
  
Sorry for the wait but I've been really busy. Anyway, here's the next chapter, enjoy!  
  
Chapter 9: Slytherins & Potions  
  
As Lily and the other girls sat down in the great hall, they heard the noise of many flapping wings and owls flew in.  
  
"Post," Megan explained when she saw Lily was confused. An owl dropped newspapers in front of Megan, which she eagerly snatched up as the owl took off.  
  
"You read the paper?" scoffed a voice and the girls turned to see two first year Slytherin boys Lily didn't know. The one who had spoken had white blonde hair and cold, gray eyes. The other had cold, dark eyes, greasy black hair and a large hook-shaped nose. Both were very pale and Lily was reminded of vampires.  
  
"What's it to you Malfoy?" snapped Megan.  
  
"Well," drawled the boy, "Only intelligent people read the paper, isn't that right Severus?"  
  
His companion nodded, "Yes," he smirked, "And we all know you haven't any brains Johnston because you're such a muggle-loving mudblood."  
  
Instantly, Lily knew the boy had said something wrong because the hall had gone deathly quiet. Lily was sure Megan would explode and was surprised when Megan slowly set he newspaper down and stood up, without drawing her wand.  
  
"Oh really?" she said, her voice quiet but deadly, "Is that so?"  
  
The two boys looked nervous but weren't about to back down.  
  
"Yeah, it is so," Severus said, his voice trembling slightly.  
  
"And I suppose you two think you're more intelligent than I am, don't you?" Megan said.  
  
"So? We are more intelligent then you!" Malfoy said.  
  
"Well, as I recall, I'm not the one who locked myself in the bathroom at the Ministry BBQ in June, Moronella," said Megan, "I'm also not the one who thought escargot meant chicken, Snivellus. So it appears I have more brains then you two idiots.  
  
"Yeah? Well we know lots of curses we can use on you!" said Malfoy as the two boys drew their wands.  
  
"I'm also not stupid enough to curse someone in front of the entire school," said Megan.  
  
The two boys ignored her and proceed to try and curse her. Megan didn't even flinch as she seemed to absorb the spells.  
  
"How did you do that?" stammered Severus.  
  
Megan smiled, "A magician never reveals her secrets."  
  
The two boys tried again and again to curse her but nothing happened. Finally, they became so scared they turned to leave, but Professor Dumbledore stopped them.  
  
"Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape," he said and the two boys whirled around in surprise, "A month's worth of detentions and 200 points from Slytherin. I have never in all my years seen such a display. If I ever catch you doing something like that again you will be expelled, is that clear?"  
  
The two boys gulped and nodded.  
  
"I said, 'is that clear'?" Dumbledore repeated.  
  
"Yes sir!" both boys stammered.  
  
"I would suggest you leave, now," Dumbledore said and the two boys bolted out of the hall. Dumbledore looked down at Megan and his expression softened. "Megan, may I speak to you please?" he asked.  
  
Megan shrugged, "OK," she said and she walked up to the high table.  
  
"They rest of you may continue with breakfast," Dumbledore said.  
  
Slowly, the noise returned to normal. As she ate, Lily watched Dumbledore and Megan. Dumbledore appeared concerned about something but Megan didn't seem to feel bothered by it. After ahilwe, Dumbledore seemed satisfied and Megan returned to the Gryffindor table.  
  
"How did you do that?" Kristin immediately asked.  
  
"Do what?" Megan asked as she sat down.  
  
"You know," Kristin said, "That thing where you didn't get hurt when they tried to curse you."  
  
"Oh, that," Megan said, "It was just luck. They obviously don't know any real magic."  
  
"Why did you say that thing about being a magician though?" Brittany asked, "You aren't a, oh what's the name for it? I know most people say magician."  
  
"Magicomagnite," Julie supplied.  
  
"Yeah, that's it," Brittany said, "You aren't a magicmagnite are you?"  
  
"No," Megan said as she rolled her eyes, but Lily could've sworn she looked uneasy and that Karen seemed concerned. Did Karen know something about Megan that the others didn't?  
  
"What's a magicomagnite?" asked Carol.  
  
"Someone who doesn't need a wand to perform controlled magic," Julie said.  
  
"Isn't your uncle one?" Brittany pressed.  
  
Megan nodded, "Yeah, but he's only my uncle by marriage."  
  
"But your grandpa's one too, right?" Brittany said.  
  
"Yeah, so? It doesn't mean I am," Megan said.  
  
"If you say so," Brittany said.  
  
Alex was passing out timetables and when he reached the girls he smiled. "All ready for your first day?" he asked and the group nodded, "Awesome."  
  
"Hey guys!" Katie said as she and Zack wander over, "Everyone excited about learning magic?"  
  
"Yes!" chorused the girls.  
  
Zack looked at his timetable, "I wish I was back in my first year," he said, "Look at this! Transfiguration, Potions, Divination, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and that's just today!"  
  
"Would you like some cheese with your whine?" Megan asked and everyone laughed.  
  
"You should respect your elders Megan," Zack said as he ruffled her hair.  
  
"Ha! Me respect you? As if!"  
  
Alex cut in, "Um, Megan, can we talk to you for a sec?" he asked.  
  
"Alright," Megan said as she slid of the bench.  
  
The four Johnstons moved away so as not to be overheard. Lily was fascinated. Why did so many people want to talk to Megan? Was it because they were worried about what had happened or was it something else? Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the boys.  
  
"Well Megan's certainly made a name for herself," Sirius said as he sat down in Megan's empty seat.  
  
"We think Megan's a magicomagnite," Brittany said sounding rather pleased with herself.  
  
"I don't doubt it," James said, "We're pretty sure she is too."  
  
"And why's that?" Karen asked. Once again Lily had the feeling Karen knew something the others didn't.  
  
"Oh, we have our reasons," Sirius said. He picked up some of Megan's bacon then quickly dropped it as if he had been shocked. Everyone turned to see Megan standing with her wand pointed at him. She turned back to her siblings, said something, and then returned to the table.  
  
"Out of my seat Black," she said and Sirius stood up.  
  
"As you wish, my lady," he said with a bow.  
  
"You are so weird," Megan said, rolling her eyes as she sat down.  
  
"Ew!" Shawn exclaimed suddenly, "We have potions with the Slytherins!"  
  
"Double ew!" added Aaron, "Laroche is Head of the Slytherin!"  
  
"Is it just me or is the Potions teacher always the head of Slytherin?" said Katie.  
  
"Hey that is weird," said Zack.  
  
Megan and Lily started humming the theme from "The Twilight Zone", causing everyone to start laughing. (A/N: I know its corny but I thought it was funny and almost every fanfic I've read has the potions teacher as the head of Slytherin.)  
  
***********  
  
After lunch, the Gryffindor first years made their way to Potions. They were a little nervous and Megan seemed particularly agitated. When Lily had asked her about it she had blamed it on lack of sleep. When Lily had continued to question her, Megan had become angry and stalked away. Upon returning she had apologized profusely but still seemed restless.  
  
As the class took their seats, Professor Laroche looked around with a slight sneer. He noticed Megan and his expression changed to one of loathing. Megan returned his gaze, her face blank and Lily noticed Laroche turned away first.  
  
Finally, Laroche addressed the class in a voice that sounded like a snake's hiss.  
  
"Few master the art of potion making because it is so complex," he said, "If you are anything like my usual students you will have severe difficulty in this course. As you all look rather stupid I doubt any of you will achieve success with me but I don't care if you do or not." He turned to Megan, "Miss Johnston, if I wanted to make an antidote for snake venom, what would my key ingredient be?"  
  
Megan didn't even blink. "What kind of snake venom?" she asked.  
  
Laroche looked taken aback. "Why would you need to know that?" he snapped.  
  
"Well, some venom antidotes use unicorn hair as the key ingredient but others use dragon teeth, pinesap or oysters."  
  
"For a king cobra then, what would you use?"  
  
"For king cobras there are three main parts; goat milk, thistles and seaweed."  
  
The class stared at her and Laroche was visibly stunned.  
  
"What is the main ingredient in a potion to cure fevers?"  
  
"Unicorn hair, but its important that you leave it floating in the potion as you drink it, you don't digest it."  
  
"What is the common name of matonelli typies?"  
  
"Monkey's Paw or the Handprint Plant."  
  
Suddenly Laroche smiled. "Perhaps you will achieve success in this course," he said, "The rest of you, pay attention to Miss Johnston, you just might learn something."  
  
The rest of the class was spent making complicated notes. By then end of class the Gryffindors felt rather relieved and were even enjoying potions.  
  
"Hey guys," Megan said as she looked over at the Slytherins, "Hold on a sec." She walked over to Malfoy and Snape.  
  
"What's she doing?" asked Erin.  
  
Lily shrugged, "Beats me."  
  
"Hey Malfoy, Snape," Megan said and the two turned, "I thought you might want these back." She opened her hands and multi-coloured sparks shot out at the boys with so much force they were knocked over.  
  
When they sat up they were a complete mess. Snape's hair was bright green, his ears were the size of an elephant's, he had yellow boils on his arms and his nose (already overly large) had swollen to the size of a small melon and turned red. Malfoy's hair was bright pink and sticking straight out, his two front teeth were about 7 inches long and still growing, his legs appeared to be stuck together and he had large purple and blue warts all over his face. Everyone gaped at the pair in disbelief.  
  
"You two look positively gorgeous!" Megan gushed, "Well, I'd best be getting to herbology, toodles!" She turned and rejoined the Gryffindors who were roaring with laughter.  
  
"Everything OK Lily?" Megan asked as they started down the hallway.  
  
"Yeah," Lily said.  
  
"Then why aren't you laughing?"  
  
"It's just."  
  
"It's just what?"  
  
"You were really weird all day but now you're perfectly happy."  
  
"Well who wouldn't be in a good mood after pulling off that little stunt?"  
  
"But how did you do it?"  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"That!" Lily said as she pointed at the two mixed up boys.  
  
"Uh, well," Megan stammered, "I have this thing that can, uh, absorb spells, to, uh, use later."  
  
Lily gave her a funny look, "Can I see it?" she asked.  
  
"Look, can we talk about this later?" Megan asked, "It's not something I really want everyone to know about, OK?"  
  
Lily nodded, "OK."  
  
***********  
  
That's it for now! Sorry again about the long wait but I've been really busy but things have calmed down a bit so I'm aiming on updating at least once a week. Anywho, please read and review! Thanks!  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	10. The Whomping Willow and Secrets

Disclaimer: Just in case you haven't realized yet, I don't own Harry Potter.  
  
I know, I haven't updated for so long but my computer's messed up so from now on I have to enlist the help of my friend Jen to update my stories so you should all say thank you to Jen because she's awesome and is really helping me out here. Anywho, here's the next chapter, enjoy and please read and review, thanks!  
  
P.S. Jen this story is now dedicated to you because you're helping me so much. You're awesome and I really appreciate it!  
  
Chapter 10: The Whomping Willow & Secrets  
  
When the Gryffindor first years arrived at the greenhouses for herbology, they found the Hufflepuffs already there.  
  
As they approached, Megan recognized three of the Hufflepuff boys and waved at them. "Hey guys!" she called. She turned to Lily, "Lily, meet Jeff Harding-" she pointed at a short and skinny boy who had curly blonde hair, "-Chris Northcott-" she pointed at the tallest boy, who was also rather skinny, and had black hair, "-And Cass Sica," she pointed at the last boy who was built slightly bigger then the other two and had brown hair and glasses. "Guys, this is Lily Evans." They exchanged hellos.  
  
"Are you muggle born then?" asked Jeff.  
  
Lily nodded, "I take it you three come from wizarding families though, right?" she said.  
  
"Actually," Cass said, "I am muggle born, I just grew up near Megan."  
  
Lily was surprised, "Well that's certainly strange," she commented.  
  
"You're telling me," Megan said, "We thought he might be a wizard though 'cause he made our toaster explode last year."  
  
"Yeah, sorry about that," Cass mumbled.  
  
"Don't worry about it," Megan said, "Zack made the fridge explode a few years ago so loosing our toaster wasn't really a big deal."  
  
"He blew up your fridge?" Lily said and Megan nodded.  
  
"How was your morning?" asked Chris, "I heard you guys had potions with the Slytherins."  
  
"We did," said Lily.  
  
"It wasn't too bad though," Megan said, "It was actually kind of fun."  
  
"Are you serious?" Jeff said.  
  
"Yeppers," Megan said as she nodded.  
  
"She hexed Malfoy and Snape after class," Lily added.  
  
"You're joking," said Chris, "And Laroche didn't see?"  
  
Megan shook her head, "Nope," she said, "You should have been there."  
  
"It was quite a sight," added Lily.  
  
"Is Laroche really mean though?" asked Jeff.  
  
"Not if you know the stuff he wants you to know," Megan said.  
  
"Well he'll hate me then," Cass said gloomily, "I don't know anything about potions."  
  
"Don't worry about it," Megan reassured him, "You'll learn soon enough."  
  
Professor Sprout came bustling out of one of the greenhouses. She was a plump little witch with fly away brown hair and a smiling face.  
  
"My!" she exclaimed, "This certainly is a big class! Well let's get to it then chaps! Lots to do today! Come in!" She ushered them inside and they took their seats.  
  
After a quick note, she set them to work on Roneali Flowers with instructions to collect the petals from the dead blossoms so that they could re-grow. Lily and Megan were working with James and Sirius on a particularly large plant. As they worked, Lily noticed Megan wore a mischievous grin. James and Sirius also noticed.  
  
"What's so funny?" asked James.  
  
"Nothing," Megan said but the boys were still suspicious.  
  
"Don't lie Megan," Sirius said, "We know you're up to something."  
  
"What makes you think I'm up to something?" Megan asked.  
  
"You're always up to something," said James.  
  
"Especially when you want revenge," Sirius added.  
  
Megan feigned hurt, "You mean you don't trust me?" she asked.  
  
"Do you trust us?" countered James.  
  
"Why would you even ask such a question?" Megan exclaimed, "I'm hurt!"  
  
"Do you trust us though?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Are you crazy?" Megan said, "Of course not!"  
  
Lily giggled, "I thought they were your friends," she said, "Why don't you trust them?"  
  
Megan pretended to concentrate, "Well, let's think about that for a minute," she said, "They've 'permanently borrowed' several of my things, they constantly get me into trouble, they kidnapped by teddy bear when I was 5, and, oh yeah, they pushed me off a cliff."  
  
"Are you ever going to let that go?" asked Sirius.  
  
"No."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Dude, you pushed me off a cliff!"  
  
The three stared at her.  
  
"Did you just call me a 'dude'?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Leave me alone," Megan said, "I went to California in the USA during the summer."  
  
Sirius and James broke into identical evil grins.  
  
"Dude, do you like wanna go surfing later?" Sirius said with a horrible surfer accent.  
  
"Like, dude, I dunno," James said with the same horrible accent, "I think we might like get homework dude."  
  
"Dude, like have you seen my pencil?"  
  
"Dude, like no I haven't."  
  
"Dude, I can't find my book either."  
  
"Dude, like you're loosing everything today."  
  
"You guys are idiots," Megan cut in as she rolled her eyes.  
  
Lily couldn't help but laugh as she watched the three friends bicker. Those three sure could argue a lot but it was obvious they were still friends. They just egged it each other on continually about the stupidest things. She noticed it was usually Megan versus the two boys but that Megan usually won the argument. Maybe it was because her temper was highly explosive and definitely something to be reckoned with. Lily knew Megan was also a big drama queen and a comedian so she would pretend to be angrier then she was to scare the two boys into giving her what she wanted. It was pretty clear she was the one in charge.  
  
Lily sighed as she picked at the plant. Her muggle friends had started school today too and she missed them. She hadn't even been allowed to tell them where she was really going for school but that was OK, she'd get over it. However, she had a feeling that she'd probably never hang out with them as much as she had before and she'd miss being 'normal'.  
  
"Hey Evans," James said, "What's the matter?"  
  
Lily gave him a dirty look, "None of your business Potter," she snapped.  
  
"Temper, temper," said James as he waved his finger at her, "I know you know better."  
  
Lily shoved him off his chair, "Oh get over yourself!" she yelled and the class turned and laughed at James who was lying sprawled on the floor.  
  
Professor Sprout frowned slightly, "Please, no rough housing in the greenhouse," she said, "You might knock the plants over."  
  
"Yes Professor, sorry Professor," Lily said, and returned to her work.  
  
Megan was laughing, "Absolutely brilliant!" she said, "Good one Lily!"  
  
Lily grinned, "Thanks," she said, then, in a lower voice she added, "I still think he's a jerk."  
  
"You just need to get to know him, that's all," Megan said, "Although I do admit he does have a rather large ego."  
  
Near the end of class, someone knocked on the door. When Professor Sprout answered it, the class saw that it was Hagrid.  
  
"Why hello Hagrid," Professor Sprout said, "What can I do for you?"  
  
"Well Professor," Hagrid said, "The Whomping Willow's just arrived and Professor Dumbledore thinks we should plant it as soon as possible."  
  
Lily noticed Remus, who was working at the next table, had perked up and seemed keen to hear about this 'Whomping Willow', whatever it was.  
  
"Well, I guess class will just have to end early today then won't it?" said Professor Sprout, "Class, you are dismissed and no homework tonight. I'll see you again on Wednesday."  
  
Everyone packed their bags and hurried outside.  
  
"What's a Whomping Willow?" Lily asked once they were outside.  
  
Megan shrugged, "I dunno, some kind of tree I guess," she said, "Hey Remus, do you know what it is?"  
  
Remus' eyes darted back and forth nervously before he answered. "Whomping Willows are very dangerous trees," he explained, "They are very violent and thrash their branches about as a defence mechanism."  
  
"I wonder why Hogwarts needs one of those?" Karen wondered and Lily noticed Remus seemed very uncomfortable.  
  
*************  
  
"Hey Megan," Lily said as she dumped her books on her bed, "You never told me what you idea was."  
  
"What idea?" Megan asked, she was already sprawled out on her bed and the other girls had gone back down to the common room.  
  
"For revenge on James and Sirius."  
  
"Oh yeah," Megan said, "Well, I'm a metamorphagus right? So I can change into other people if I want too, right?"  
  
"Right."  
  
"And Katie once told me about this potion that lets a person become someone else for awhile so I thought we'd transform into James and Sirius and get them in lots of trouble."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Setting off dungbombs, running and screaming in the hallways, basically making a huge mess of some sort."  
  
"How are we going to make the potion though?"  
  
"Well.that's where it gets a teensy bit complicated," Megan admitted, "First we have to find the book that has the potion, second, we need a place to hide the potion while we make it because it takes about a month to make, and third we need to get all the ingredients."  
  
"Sounds complicated."  
  
"It is, but we're both smart, we'll manage and it'll be so worth it."  
  
"Wow, you certainly go all out when you plot revenge."  
  
"What can I say? I'm a genius!" Megan said as she grinned.  
  
"That you are," agreed Lily, "And speaking of being a genius, how'd you manage to curse those two Slytherin boys? Everyone thinks you're a magi.magicog."  
  
"Magicomagnite?"  
  
"Yeah, that's it."  
  
"Well, I'm not surprised."  
  
"You're not?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Can I ask why?"  
  
"Because I am one," Megan said matter-of-factly, "I also know I don't hide it very well."  
  
"Then why did you deny it?" Lily inquired.  
  
"Well." Megan said slowly, "It's complicated. Most of it has to do with the fact that my mom's overprotective of me since I'm her 'baby' and for some reason she thinks that if people knew about it I'd get bullied."  
  
Lily was taken aback, "Wouldn't it do just the opposite though?" she said, "I mean, if everyone knew they wouldn't want to pick on you."  
  
"That's what I told her but she wouldn't listen," Megan said, "I think it's a 'mom' thing."  
  
Lily giggled, "My mom's like that sometimes too," she said.  
  
Megan giggled too, "Really? That's weird!" she said.  
  
Lily turned serious again, "I get the feeling Karen knows about you being a magi-whatever," she said.  
  
"Oh, yeah, she knows I'm a magicomagnite," Megan said, "She found out a couple of years ago 'cause she saw me do magic."  
  
"You know what though?" Lily said.  
  
"What?" Megan said.  
  
"I don't think you're the only one with a secret."  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"Remus seemed kind of uncomfortable when we were talking about the Whomping Willow."  
  
"Well, yeah, it must be what they got to guard his hiding place when he." Megan started then stopped herself.  
  
"When he what?" Lily inquired.  
  
"Look, forget I said anything," Megan said, "I'm not supposed to tell anyone."  
  
Lily frowned, "You have to tell me now!" she said, "You've got me all curious!"  
  
"Yeah, well, curiosity killed the were.I mean.cat," Megan said.  
  
"Ah ha!" Lily said triumphantly, "He's a werewolf!"  
  
It took a few moments for this to sink in.  
  
"Omigod! Remus is a werewolf! He's gonna kill us!" Lily shrieked as she jumped up, "We have to tell Professor Dumbledore!"  
  
"Relax!" Megan said and calmed Lily down, "He already knows, that's why they got the Whomping Willow. They're probably going to put it outside wherever they're going to hide Remus when he transforms. Trust me, I've known the guy for years and he's really nice and he wouldn't hurt a fly."  
  
"Then why are they hiding him when he transforms?" Lily said, she was still slightly hysterical.  
  
"The thing is, when people transform into werewolves they aren't in complete control," Megan explained, "The rest of the time he'll be perfectly normal but even the nicest and gentlest people can't always control the werewolf urges during the full moon."  
  
"And I thought werewolves weren't real!" Lily said as she sat back down on her bed.  
  
Megan smiled slightly, "Lily, pretty much everything you though was just a story is real," she said gently, "Where do you think all those ideas came from in the first place?"  
  
"So there's really vampires and dragons and.?" Lily started.  
  
"And unicorns and phoenixes and centaurs all sorts of really cool creatures," Megan said, "Don't worry, vampires and werewolves aren't something you should really be concerned about. After all, in most fairy tales witches are evil old crones who like eating little kids and we aren't about to do that. You have to understand it's just a fairy tale. Sure those things really exist but those stories are based on stereotypes and bad experiences."  
  
"Oh," Lily said, she felt greatly relieved, "I see."  
  
"Good," said Megan.  
  
"How come you know about Remus though?" asked Lily.  
  
"My mom told me after me, him, Sirius and James were all over at James' house one day," Megan explained, "Remus and I were looking for James and Sirius 'cause we were playing hide and go seek but instead we found a Boggart."  
  
"What's a Boggart?" Lily interrupted.  
  
"It's a creature that's a shape-shifter," Megan explained, "It takes on the form of whatever a person fears most."  
  
"How would that help you figure out Remus is a werewolf?"  
  
"I'm getting to that."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Anyway, when Remus found it, it turned into this orb thing which looked like a moon," Megan said, "Not to mention the fact that every time there's a full moon he's conveniently 'sick' or 'out of town'."  
  
"Ah, I see," said Lily, "Are you sure he's safe to be around though?"  
  
"Positive," Megan replied, "He's really nice, kind of shy, but nice."  
  
"Does anyone else know?" Lily asked.  
  
Megan shook her head, "No, so don't tell them," she replied, "If he wants them to know, he'll tell them."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Yeah, I know, pretty much a bunch of fluff but I had to introduce the Whomping Willow and a few other things. And yes, I am aware that the Marauders didn't find out Lupin was a werewolf until their second year but it never said Lily didn't know and seeings as the character 'Megan' is based on me I decided they could know. Also, special thanks goes to my friend Jen because she's helping me to update my stories at the moment because my computer is all screwed up. Anywho, please review!!! Thanks!  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	11. Flying Lessons

Disclaimer: In case you haven't figured it out yet, Harry Potter isn't mine.  
  
Here's the next chapter, enjoy and please review, thanks! And yes Jen, you're evil, but no, you don't kill anyone.yet-lol.  
  
Chapter 11: Flying Lessons  
  
As they took their seats in the Great Hall for dinner, the first year Gryffindor girls chatted happily, mostly about their first day of school.  
  
"This place is so cool!" squealed Carol.  
  
"For sure!" Brittany agreed.  
  
"I love the ceiling!" Kristin said, "It's so pretty!"  
  
"I think so too!" exclaimed Karen, "Isn't it something else?"  
  
"Today was absolutely amazing," Julie said.  
  
"I know!" Lily said excitedly, "I can hardly wait for tomorrow!"  
  
"I can," Erin said gloomily, "We'll probably get a ton of homework."  
  
"Oh don't be so pessimistic!" Megan said as she rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yeah," Lily agreed, "After all, Malfoy and Snape are probably still in the hospital wing because they don't seem to be here yet."  
  
"Oh darn," Megan said with a look of mock disappointment, "And I was so looking forward to seeing them tonight. Life just isn't fair is it?"  
  
The girls collapsed into a fit of giggles and a first year Slytherin girl who was passing by gave them a dirty look. Her brown hair tumbled down onto her shoulders and her brown eyes could have been friendly but instead looked rather menacing.  
  
"You really weren't very nice you know," she said to Megan, "You shouldn't pick on poor, defenseless, little boys, it's incredibly mean. Who knows how those poor darlings are doing right now."  
  
"Nice to see you again too Jenny," Megan said with a grin.  
  
The girl bristled, "My name is not 'Jenny'!" she said hotly, "It's Jennifer, Jennifer Strong!"  
  
"OK, sorry.Jenny," Megan said, "And FYI, Malfoy and Snape said they knew lots of spells so I wouldn't exactly call them defenseless."  
  
Quick as a flash, Jennifer changed her tactics, "Well everyone thinks you're a big freak and no one likes you!" she said.  
  
Megan raised her eyebrows in surprise, "Really? We'll see about that," she said, as she looked over at the Hufflepuff table. "Hey Cass, Chris, Jeff!" she called, and the three boys turned, "Do you think I'm a freak and hate me?"  
  
"Au contraire mon amie," replied Jeff with a terrible French accent, "Why do you ask?"  
  
"Well, Jenny here thinks that everyone must hate me because of what I did to Malfoy and Snape," Megan answered.  
  
"If anything I'd say everyone likes you even more," said Chris.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Cass, "Everyone thinks you're the coolest and that those two are idiots."  
  
"You can be kind of freaky though sometimes," joked Jeff.  
  
"Yeah," said Chris, "You're freakishly good at Quidditch and pretty much everything else you do."  
  
"Yeah," added Cass, "We think you're super cool because of all that stuff so we think you're kind of freaky, but in a good way."  
  
"Aw, thanks guys!" Megan said. She turned back to Jennifer, "You know, I'd say I'm pretty popular, wouldn't you?" she said. She looked at her watch, "Now then, you should probably be running along so bye-bye and its been delightful chatting with you, Jenny," Megan said as she waved good-bye.  
  
Jennifer's eyes blazed, "Humph!" she said as she turned on her heel and marched away to the Slytherin table. When she sat down she began talking with her friends and every so often the group would look over in the Gryffindors' direction.  
  
"Nice kids those Slytherins," Megan commented with a perfectly straight face, "Quite a caring and compassionate bunch."  
  
Everyone within earshot burst out laughing and the Slytherins glared at the group. Megan smiled and waved back cheerfully.  
  
"You know, I don't understand why people mistrust them," she commented, "They're actually quite pleasant you know. Vastly misunderstood creatures Slytherins are."  
  
Lily could hardly breathe she was laughing so hard. Brittany was laughing so hard she's toppled out her chair and was lying on the floor in hysterics laughing like a hyena. It took quite awhile for the group to calm down and the meal was punctuated by giggles. When they had finished, Professor Dumbledore rose to speak.  
  
"From what I can see, everyone found today most enjoyable," he said, his eyes twinkling as he glanced over at the girls.  
  
"Except Moronella and Snivellus," whispered Megan and the girls smothered giggles.  
  
"I just have one quick announcement," Dumbledore said, "Professor Sprout has informed me that our new Whomping Willow has successfully been replanted. All of you should note that this is no ordinary tree and unless you wish to receive a most grievous injury, you should steer clear of its branches. I say this because a Whomping Willow will flail its branches about wildly could very easily harm you."  
  
There were murmurs throughout the hall.  
  
"If it's so dangerous why did they get one?" Lily heard James wonder aloud.  
  
"Because they're stupid?" Sirius offered.  
  
"I trust that you are all competent enough to heed this warning and that this is the last time we will have to discuss it," said Dumbledore, "Now then, off you go then! I'm sure most of you have homework that still needs to be done!"  
  
As everyone rose to leave, many were asking the same question James had voiced and if Megan hadn't told her earlier, Lily would have been wondering herself. She fell in step beside Remus who looked rather preoccupied.  
  
"Penny for your thoughts," she said.  
  
Remus started, "Oh, hi Lily," he said, "That Whomping Willow sure sounds something fierce doesn't it?"  
  
Lily nodded, "Yeah, but Professor Dumbledore must have a good reason for having it," she said, "He seems very intelligent."  
  
"He is," Remus said, "But sometimes I question his judgment now that he's.never mind. It doesn't matter. I guess he's just very trusting."  
  
"He does seem like he would be doesn't he?" said Lily.  
  
"You have no idea," Remus said.  
  
"Hey look!" Karen said as the Gryffindors entered the common room. Lily followed her gaze and saw a new note had been posted on the bulletin board.  
  
"Oh boy!" exclaimed Kristin, "Flying Lessons!"  
  
"Yeah, but look who we have them with," said Erin.  
  
"Great," said Carol, "Just what I always wanted to do, make an idiot of myself in front of a bunch of Slytherins."  
  
"Ah, don't worry about it," Megan said, "You'll do fine."  
  
"Easy for you to say," Carol said, "You've been flying for years."  
  
"It's really not that hard," Megan assured her, "You'll see."  
  
"I hope you're right," said Carol.  
  
The rest of the week passed in a blur of schoolwork and fun. In Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall, they worked on turning matches into needles. Much to Lily's surprise, she accomplished the task on her second try but she wasn't the only one, Megan, Julie, James, Sirius and Remus also managed to do so. Astronomy with Professor Sinestra proved to be exciting when David spotted a meteor. However, Lily had been rather angry when James and Sirius pantsed Peter and spent the rest of the class making 'Uranus' jokes. As a result, they received detention but Lily still felt that they had been incredibly immature. Charms with tiny Professor Flitwick proved to be one of, if not the funnest (A/N: Yes I am aware that's not a 'real' word but its my story so I can use it.) class. History of Magic was taught by old Professor Binns and was easily the most boring class in the entire universe.  
  
Of all the classes though, Defence Against the Dark Arts was the most interesting and intriguing but it was also rather strange. James and Sirius had received a second detention for bounding around the classroom and pretending to be vampires until they were suddenly transfigured into bats, causing the class to erupt into utter chaos. A confused Professor Van Haren hastily changed them back then yelled at them for several minutes about abusing their powers even though it was obvious he knew they couldn't have possibly transfigured themselves. Lily had a sneaking suspicion Megan was behind the sudden transformation because she had been grinning the entire time.  
  
When it came time for flying lessons Friday afternoon, Lily felt as though there were a million butterflies in her stomach. She had always wished she could fly but now that the opportunity had presented itself she felt rather nervous. Since the appearance of the note on the bulletin board flying was the only topic of conversation among the first years. James and Sirius weren't helping the matter by purposely trying to make flying sound extremely difficult. They'd only stopped when Megan had used a silencing charm on them and shoved them in a broom closet. She then explained to everyone who had never flown before how simple flying really was.  
  
"With today's brooms flying is pretty much idiot proof," she had explained, "You sit on the broom, grip the handle and then steer by pulling the broom handle in different directions."  
  
After their last class on Friday (Defence Against the Dark Arts), the Gryffindor first years hurried down to the Quidditch pitch where they met Madam Hooch, the flying instructor. She had short brown hair, hawk-like yellow eyes and looked like an athlete.  
  
"She used to play professional Quidditch a few years back," Megan whispered, "She's really good."  
  
Madam Hooch cleared her throat and the group fell silent, "Welcome to your first flying lesson," she said, "We shall begin immediately. First, stick your right hand over the broom and say 'up'!"  
  
The students did as they were told but few of the brooms actually did anything. Lily watched Megan, who successfully managed on her first try, and tried to imitate her.  
  
"Up!" Lily said, and to her surprise, her broom leapt up into her hand. She looked over at Megan who was grinning.  
  
"Told you it was easy!" she said.  
  
"Beginner's luck," James said airily from Megan's other side.  
  
Megan smacked him in the back of the head, "Ah shut up you stupid git!" she said.  
  
"Ow!" James exclaimed. He went to hit her back but Madam Hooch cut in.  
  
"Keep your hands to yourself James!" she barked.  
  
"But she." James started but faltered under Madam Hooch's stare.  
  
"Yeah James," Megan smirked, "Keep your hands to yourself."  
  
"Yeah James," echoed Sirius, "I'm very disappointed in you."  
  
"Shut it you," James said angrily.  
  
"Now then," Madam Hooch said, "I want you to mount your brooms and then on my whistle you will kick off from the ground, hover in midair for a few seconds then lean forward and touch back down."  
  
The group mounted their broom and Madam Hooch raised her whistle.  
  
"1.2." she said then blew her whistle.  
  
Everyone kicked off and hovered and then, on Madam Hooch's signal, touched back down.  
  
"Oh bravo!" Madam Hooch congratulated them.  
  
Several first time fliers beamed, flushed with their success, but some of the more experienced Slytherin fliers smirked.  
  
"They act as if being able to hover on a broomstick is some great feat," smirked a Slytherin boy with brown hair and eyes.  
  
"Oh shut up Simon," Megan snapped, "As I recall, it took you several tries to even mount your old toy broom."  
  
The boy's smirk flickered, "I was small for my age, it was harder," he said with a slight pout.  
  
Megan rolled her eyes, "As if," she said.  
  
"Now then," Madam Hooch said, "Who here would considered themselves an expert flier?"  
  
Several hands shot up and Madam Hooch looked around. "Hmmm, let's see," she mused, "Why don't we have Megan, because if you're anything like you're siblings you're flying skills will be excellent, and I suppose we should have a boy then so.how about you James, let's see if you can redeem yourself."  
  
Megan and James stepped forward. "I would like you to demonstrate the proper way to accelerate," said Madam Hooch, "Take one lap around the pitch to get used to your brooms and then line up at the far end of the field and we'll have you two race."  
  
"OK," Megan and James said. They mounted their brooms and took off on their warm up lap.  
  
"Hey guys!" Sirius yelled, "Why not make the it a more interesting race by having a little wager?"  
  
"Sounds good to me," Megan yelled back as she and James hovered overhead, "How about it Jamsie? Loser does whatever the winner wants until the end of November."  
  
"Anything?" James asked, eyebrows raised.  
  
"Within reason," Megan replied, "Anything that can seriously injure someone is out of the question, as is anything inappropriate."  
  
"OK, you're on!" James said and they shook hands, "You're going to regret this MJ!"  
  
Megan smirked, "No, I think you'll be the one who regrets this Potter," she replied.  
  
"Ready." Madam Hooch yelled, "Set."  
  
She blew her whistle and they were off, neck and neck, the Gryffindors cheering them on but the Slytherins scowled. They sped towards the finish at top speed. At the last second, Megan pulled ahead to win by several feet. The Gryffindors cheered, even Sirius, despite the fact that it was Megan and not James who had won, while the Slytherins continued to scowl. Megan flew over and landed with a triumphant grin on her face. James followed soon after but seemed to be in shock.  
  
"How could I lose?" he wondered aloud.  
  
"Easy," Megan said, "I beat you."  
  
"Well done you two," Madam Hooch said, "Very impressive. Now, what those two just demonstrated was perfect technique for accelerating. Often times even the most experience fliers have trouble with their technique and are therefore not achieving their full potential."  
  
"So," Lily whispered, "What are you going to make him do first?"  
  
Megan grinned slyly, "You'll see," she said, "You'll see."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Well, that's it for now! Hope you enjoyed it! I've already written the next chapter in rough so it'll hopefully be up sometime soon. My computer's still really messed up so I need to once again thank my friend Jen (and yes the Jennifer Strong from Slytherin was supposed to be her but she insisted on being evil) for helping me update my stories. Jen, you're awesome and you have no idea how much I appreciate you helping me out! Well, anywho, please review because when you do it makes me feel special!  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	12. Pretty in Pink

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is in no way shape or form mine. However, any characters, places, made up words you don't recognize because they are not in the Harry Potter books are so NO STEALING!  
  
Here's chapter 12-yay! If you can't tell by the title, the colour pink is involved to some extent in this chapter. Having said that, enjoy and please review!  
  
Chapter 12: Pretty In Pink  
  
"Did you see his face when you won?" Karen said excitedly, "He looked like he was going to fall off his broom!"  
  
The girls were walking down the hallway back to Gryffindor tower still giggling and discussing Megan's triumphant defeat of James.  
  
Megan grinned, "I think the next two and a half months are going to prove to be highly entertaining and amusing."  
  
"Are you going to make him do your homework?" Carol asked.  
  
"No!" Megan said, "He'd do it all wrong and I'd fail."  
  
They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.  
  
"Password?" she asked.  
  
"Phoenix Flame," the girls replied and the picture swung forward, allowing them all to clamber inside.  
  
They plopped down in comfortable chairs in the Common room by the fireplace. They continued chatting happily and only stopped when the boys returned.  
  
They giggled as a visually upset James passed.  
  
"What's so funny?" he snapped irritably.  
  
"Nothing," the girls replied in unison before giggling again.  
  
"So I lost a stupid race, big deal," he said, "Don't worry Johnston, I'll get you back."  
  
Megan grinned, "Not until the end of November at least," she said, "Because you're first order is to not pull any pranks on me or my friends until your time of servitude is over."  
  
"Oh come on!" James groaned, "That's inhuman!"  
  
"And," Megan continued, "You have to keep your friends from pulling pranks on us as well, because if you don't, your orders will be even worse."  
  
James groaned, "Now you're being totally unreasonable!" he complained.  
  
Sirius grinned, "Actually," he said, "I think she's being quite smart in protecting herself."  
  
"Whose side are you on anyway?" James demanded.  
  
Sirius shrugged, still grinning, "Hey, I'm friends with both of you," he said, "Don't put me in the middle of this."  
  
"Well it's your fault I have to do all this!" James said angrily, "Thanks a lot Sirius. I'll be in my room." He turned, and stormed off towards the stairs that led to boys' dormitories.  
  
"Oh James!" Megan called in a singsong voice.  
  
"What now?" James asked as he turned.  
  
Megan got up and walked over to him, "Well, I have a little favour I need you to do for me," she said as she held out a piece of paper, "Here are the instructions. You are not to show or tell them to anyone until you've completed the task. Have fun!"  
  
James took the paper and read it over. He went white as a sheet and got an expression of utmost horror on his face. "Please tell me you're joking!" he begged, "You can't be serious!"  
  
"You would've had me do a lot worse if you'd won," Megan said.  
  
"Yeah James," Sirius said, "Suck it up!"  
  
"Be a man!" David said.  
  
"Are you a man or a mouse?" squeaked Peter. (A/N: Isn't it ironical that I had Peter say that???)  
  
"Are you chicken?" Stephen said.  
  
"Yeah!" echoed Aaron and Shawn, "Don't be a baby!"  
  
"I'll help you get ready tomorrow morning before breakfast," Megan said.  
  
James looked disgusted and stormed off.  
  
"Sounds interesting," Sirius said.  
  
"You have no idea," Megan said with a grin.  
  
*************  
  
The next morning, Megan stayed behind in the Gryffindor Common room while the others went down to the Great Hall for breakfast.  
  
"I wonder what she's making him do?" Kristin said as they sat down.  
  
"I hope it's something really embarrassing," Lily said, "I hate James so much, he's such an arrogant jerk!"  
  
"How come?" Julie asked.  
  
"Long story short, when I met him he decided to pull a prank on me," replied Lily.  
  
"Ah, I see," Julie said.  
  
A few minutes later, when the hall was completely filled with students, the doors to the hall were thrown open to reveal Megan.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls!" she said, "May I present to you, Mr. James Potter, as he makes his stage debut singing "I Feel Pretty" from Westside Story! Rock on James!"  
  
Everyone stared as James appeared in the doorway wearing a bright pink dress with an innumerable amount of frills, ribbons and bows. Everyone roared with laughter at the sight making his already bright red face go even brighter from embarrassment. Music began playing and James began to sing and prance about.  
  
"I feel pretty,  
  
Oh, so pretty,  
  
I feel pretty and witty and gay!  
  
And I pity  
  
Any girl who isn't me today!  
  
I feel charming,  
  
Oh, so charming  
  
It's alarming how charming I feel!  
  
And so pretty  
  
That I hardly can believe I'm real.  
  
See the pretty girl in that mirror there:  
  
Who can that attractive girl be?  
  
Such a pretty face, Such a pretty dress,  
  
Such a pretty smile,  
  
Such a pretty me!  
  
I feel stunning  
  
And entrancing,  
  
Feel like running and dancing for joy,  
  
For I'm loved  
  
By a pretty wonderful boy!  
  
Have you met my good friend Maria,  
  
The craziest girl on the block?  
  
You'll know her the minute you see her,  
  
She's the one who is in an advanced state of shock.  
  
She thinks she's in love.  
  
She thinks she's in Spain.  
  
She isn't in love,  
  
She's merely insane.  
  
It must be the heat  
  
Or some rare disease,  
  
Or too much to eat  
  
Or maybe it's fleas.  
  
Keep away from her,  
  
Send for Chino!  
  
This is not the  
  
Maria we know!  
  
Modest and pure,  
  
Polite and refined,  
  
Well-bred and mature  
  
And out of her mind!  
  
I feel pretty,  
  
Oh, so pretty  
  
That the city should give me its key.  
  
A committee  
  
Should be organized to honor me.  
  
La la la la . . .  
  
I feel dizzy,  
  
I feel sunny,  
  
I feel fizzy and funny and fine,  
  
And so pretty,  
  
Miss America can just resign!  
  
La la la la . . .  
  
See the pretty girl in that mirror there:  
  
What mirror where?  
  
Who can that attractive girl be?  
  
Which? What? Where? Whom?  
  
Such a pretty face,  
  
Such a pretty dress,  
  
Such a pretty smile,  
  
Such a pretty me!  
  
Such a pretty me!  
  
I feel stunning  
  
And entrancing,  
  
Feel like running and dancing for joy,  
  
For I'm loved  
  
By a pretty wonderful boy!"  
  
(A/N: Music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.© 1956, 1957 Amberson Holdings LLC and Stephen Sondheim. Copyright renewed.Leonard Bernstein Music Publishing Company LLC, Publisher.)  
  
He curtsied to the crowd then ran and sat down to eat breakfast. Sirius was whistling at him and commenting on his "great legs!" Megan also came over and sat down for breakfast.  
  
"So did you enjoys James' little rendition of 'I Feel Pretty'?" she asked.  
  
"How did you get him into that dress?" asked Brittany.  
  
"Well, like I always say," Megan said, "Where there's a wand, there's a way."  
  
"You know," Lily said slowly as she studied James, "Pink is really a nice colour for him don't you think? It really brings out his natural highlights."  
  
Between giggles, the girls agreed.  
  
*************  
  
"So he has to wear that dress all day?" Brittany asked as she looked across the common room at James who was playing wizard's chess with Sirius.  
  
Megan nodded, "That's right," she said with a grin.  
  
"What are you going to make him do next?" asked Erin.  
  
"Yeah Megan," Carol said, "How are you going to top that little display?"  
  
"I'm not sure but I think of something," Megan replied.  
  
Three cute third year boys entered the Common room and waved at Megan who waved back eagerly.  
  
"That was bloody brilliant MJ!" said one. He had dark curly hair, brown eyes and a very charming smile. (A/N: Hey Jen, it's Orlando Bloom! You could've been in Gryffindor with us but no.you just had to be an evil Slytherin.) "We heard about that bet you made with Potter and thoroughly enjoyed the results."  
  
"Yeah," agreed another one. He had brown hair, brown eyes and looked rather shy in that adorable way that some guys have. (A/N: And look who else is conveniently in Gryffindor! It's Josh Hartnett-lol!) "I haven't laughed that hard for ages!"  
  
"You must be a really good flier," said the third. He had blonde hair, a great smile and the bluest eyes Lily had ever seen. (A/N: No he's not anyone famous, I just felt like having a blonde thrown in for good measure.) "I've seen James fly and he's quite the speed demon."  
  
Megan shrugged, "I guess I'm OK," she said, "To be honest, I haven't really watched myself."  
  
"She's amazing," Karen cut in, "She's awesome at Quidditch to and can play anything. She plays Seeker and Beater the best though."  
  
"Well Alex is really good, he's the reason we won last year, and Zack isn't half bad either, so I can't say I'm surprised," said the first boy.  
  
"Is Katie finally going to try-out this year?" asked the second boy.  
  
Megan nodded, "Yep," she said, "She plays Chaser and there's an opening since Donald Goeller graduated last year. You know, Libby's brother."  
  
"Are you going out for Seeker next year since Alex graduates this year then?" asked the third boy.  
  
"Yeah, but I'll probably end up as a beater cause Frank Longbottom's leaving too," Megan said, "Less people always try out for beater anyway so I'll have a better chance of making it."  
  
"Then you'd be my partner in crime," said the first boy, he grinned, "I'm the other beater right now."  
  
Megan grinned back, "Sounds good Orlando," she said.  
  
"Well, we should probably get started on our homework," said the second boy, "We'll talk to you later then."  
  
"OK," Megan said, "Bye!"  
  
"Bye MJ!" the boys said before going up to the boys' dorms.  
  
"Who were those amazingly good looking guys?" Kristin asked as she stared after the boys.  
  
"Orlando Bloom, he's the one with black curly hair who plays beater, Josh Hartnett, he's the one with brown hair, and Brendan Scott, he's the blonde," Megan said.  
  
"And you know them how?" Brittany asked.  
  
"Our parents are friends," Megan said.  
  
"They are so cute!" Kristin exclaimed, "Especially Orlando."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Carol said, "Josh is the cutest."  
  
"You're both wrong," Brittany cut in, "Brendan's the cutest."  
  
The three continued arguing until the boys returned to do homework nearby. They stopped and gazed at the three boys with goofy looking expressions on their faces.  
  
"You sure know a lot of people Megan," Lily commented.  
  
Megan shrugged, "It's 'cause my family gets invited to all these parties and things," she said, "All the adults go off and talk and us kids go entertain ourselves with games and stuff."  
  
"What kind of games?" Lily asked.  
  
"Hide-and-go-seek, kick the can, tag, same games muggles play actually," said Megan, "Well except wizard's chess and exploding snap and stuff like that. Hide-and-go-seek's the best though. We had one game with like a hundred kids or something-it was crazy!"  
  
"I remember that!" Julie said.  
  
"Yeah, so do I," said Karen, "You scared the crap out of Jennifer!"  
  
"What happened?" Lily inquired.  
  
"Jennifer was it and she walked past where a whole bunch of us were hiding so I jumped out at her, picked her up and locked her in a closet," Megan said.  
  
"She screamed so loud!" said Karen.  
  
"It was kind of mean though," Julie said.  
  
"Yeah, but Jennifer had been picking on the Charrette twins because their mum's a muggle so she did deserve it," Megan said, "I mean come on, who picks on 7 year olds? Jennifer was vicious even when she was 9 years old, if not before."  
  
"True enough," said Julie.  
  
"I wonder how loud she'd scream now if I locked her in the dungeons?" Megan mused, "Perhaps that's something I'll have James test for me."  
  
"You're certainly one of a kind Megan," Lily said with a laugh, "Aren't you worried about what James will do once he's free?"  
  
Megan shrugged, "Not really, no," she said.  
  
"And why's that?" asked Lily.  
  
"Simple," Megan said, "I'm always one step ahead of him. James and Sirius are much too predictable. Guaranteed their revenge will involve them trying to sneak bugs in our beds."  
  
"How do you figure that?" asked Julie.  
  
"Simple," Megan said as she pulled a crumpled up piece of paper out of her pocket, "James left this in the Common room yesterday." She unfolded the paper. On it was a list of revenge ideas. The title even said 'Ways To Get Revenge On Megan'.  
  
"Unless he wanted you to find that," Karen said.  
  
"Karen, it's James," Megan said, "The guy is stupid. Need I say more?"  
  
"OK, I see what you mean," Karen said.  
  
"Well, I should probably put this in his room so that he doesn't know I found it," Megan said, "But first, I'll back a copy of it." She pulled out her wand and placed the paper on the table. "Replicaties!" she said and suddenly there were two identical pieces of parchment. She pointed at one and said, "Expellente!" (A/N: I looked all through the Harry Potter books for the real incantation but none is given-they just mention it's called 'the banishing charm'. Oh well, I tried.) "Well," she said, "Guess James will be getting a few extra chores to do since I found that."  
  
"Can I please help?" asked Lily, "I still need to get revenge on him."  
  
Megan grinned, "OK then," she said, "Let's get to work."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Yeah, I know, it started out with so much potential then just went down the crapper. Although, I must say having James wear a pink dress and sing "I Feel Pretty" was a stroke of genius. If you guys couldn't guess, I saw "Anger Management" with Adam Sandler not to long ago so I got the idea from there. Anywho, thanks again to my friend Jen who is being a HUGE help in posting these chapters. Jen, you're awesome! Chapters 14 and 15 are coming along so they'll be up in the next week or so probably. Please review because it makes me feel special and I'll have more motivation to write!!!  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	13. And it Begins

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all other associated characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and do not belong to me, Megan, in any way shape or form. I am writing this fanfiction as a form of amusement and am therefore not receiving any money for writing it (although I wouldn't say no if someone offered me money).  
  
Here's the next chapter, hopefully you all enjoy it and remember to review because it makes me feel special!  
  
Chapter 13: And It Begins  
  
It was a typical Monday morning, where no one wanted to get out of bed and go to class. Lily was particularly unhappy because it meant she and Megan had to wait until after class to go find a hiding spot for their potion. They still hadn't told anyone else about their plot for revenge and weren't planning to any time soon.  
  
"You mean you don't trust them?" Lily had asked upon hearing that their revenge scheme was to be kept top secret.  
  
"Oh, I trust them," Megan had replied, "But it's safer if less people know- just in case. Plus this way if a teacher asks they can reply truthfully and won't get in trouble because of us."  
  
They had already concluded they couldn't use their dormitory, any of the bathrooms or classrooms. They had searched high and low all day Sunday in hopes of finding a small abandoned broom closet but with no success. There was also the matter of getting the book from the library. They had discovered the book they needed was in the restricted section, which meant that to borrow it, they needed a note from a teacher giving them permission. The only problem was what teacher would allow two first years to borrow a book containing such advanced magic? Unfortunately there wasn't a teacher who they could trick into giving them a letter so they'd have to tell the truth to some extent.  
  
While doing Potions homework, Megan had got an idea to ask Professor Laroche. After all, they were trying to get a potion book and he was the potions teacher so it only made sense. Lily had agreed and they concluded they should ask after Potions class before going to Herbology.  
  
When the bell finally rang, Lily and Megan waited as their classmates left the room, then approached Professor Laroche. Lily hung back as Megan asked.  
  
"Professor?" Megan said.  
  
"Yes Miss Johnston?" said Laroche as he looked up.  
  
"I was wondering if you would sign this note for me so that I can borrow a book from the Restricted Section in the library," Megan said as she held out a piece of paper.  
  
Laroche took the paper and read it over, "Moste Potente Potions?" he said with raised eyebrows, "Now why on earth would you want that?"  
  
"Well, I heard that it had some very interesting potions in it," Megan replied, "And I've read all the other potions books they have in the library at home because my grandfather and dad collect books. We have a huge library at our house actually."  
  
"But you haven't read Moste Potente Potions?" Laroche said.  
  
"No sir," Megan replied, "We still haven't been able to find a copy for ourselves."  
  
"Where did you hear about it?" asked Laroche.  
  
"My dad told me about it and Amidas Flint mentions it in Useful Potions to Bring Down Your Enemy," Megan replied.  
  
"You've read Amidas Flint?" Laroche asked, looking surprised.  
  
"Oh yes sir," Megan said with a nod, "I'm looking forward to making Veritaserum in my seventh year because it sounds so intriguing. I'd also like to make Exultation of Zeus someday."  
  
Laroche looked as if he had suddenly been told he'd won the lottery. "I would be delighted to sign your note," he said, "And if you would like a little extra credit, you can write a report on some of the potions and maybe we could even make one of them. I'm particularly fond of the Polyjuice Potion, not that you need it, since you're a metamorphagus."  
  
Megan giggled and Lily, wanting to play along, spoke up.  
  
"What's the Polyjuice Potion sir?" she asked, "It's not mentioned in out text book."  
  
"The Polyjuice Potion is a highly useful potion," explained Laroche, "It allows the drinker to become someone else for an hour. Aurors use it to infiltrate groups of bad wizards and witches."  
  
"That sounds really cool," said Lily.  
  
"But it's also very dangerous," Laroche said, sounding very serious, "When mixed improperly the potion can have devastating effects so I don't want you two getting the idea that it's simple and that you can go make it on your own. Even some of the most experienced potion makers have trouble with it."  
  
"Oh, don't worry Professor," Megan assured him, "I just want to read about it and the other potions, I wasn't planning on making any of them."  
  
"I'm glad," Laroche said, "Well you two should run along before you're late for class."  
  
"Thanks Professor!" Megan said as she and Lily left.  
  
"You're welcome Megan," Laroche replied.  
  
*************  
  
Megan and Lily couldn't help but laugh as they left the library with Moste Potente Potions safely in Megan's backpack.  
  
"Now all we need is a safe place to make it," Megan said.  
  
"Why don't we just go make it with Laroche?" said Lily.  
  
Megan shook her head, "No, it's too suspicious," she said, "We should wait a couple of weeks before we make it though, just so we're less likely to get caught. I'll read the book, copy out the potion and then return it. We'll wait another week or two then start making the potion. It takes about a month to make so if we start making it in the middle of October it will be ready in the middle of November."  
  
"But that's so far away!" Lily said.  
  
"Yes, but it gives us plenty of time to better prepare for it," said Megan.  
  
"Ah, good point," said Lily.  
  
They rounded the corner and came face to face with a large black door they'd never seen before. Suddenly, Megan grinned.  
  
"I know where that leads!" she said, "Of course! This is perfect! Why didn't I think of it before?"  
  
"Think of what?" asked Lily.  
  
Megan opened the door, "The Room of Requirement," she said. The door swung open to reveal a room with all sorts of things to for making potions.  
  
"Blimey!" Lily exclaimed, "That's incredible!"  
  
They entered and sat down on the stools behind a table with a cauldron sitting on it. Megan pulled out the book and flipped through to the right page. She whistled as she read the ingredients they would need.  
  
"Wow," she commented, "This is some serious potion! Some of these ingredients are really hard to get." She looked around the room. "But it looks like everything's here so we should be OK."  
  
"Are you sure it'll work though?" Lily asked, she was beginning to feel a bit nervous.  
  
"Oh yeah," Megan said, "I'll even try it first so you won't have to be the guinea pig."  
  
"Feel free to do so," Lily said.  
  
Megan grinned, "Oh man!" she said, "This is going to be awesome! Those boys are in for such a surprise! They won't know what hit them!"  
  
Lily nodded in agreement, "That's for sure," she said.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Yes, I know, it was more fluff but I'm setting stuff up for later chapters alright? Hopefully you guys are enjoying this and thanks for the reviews! It really makes my day to go check my e-mail and see that people reviewed my story. Again, I have to thank Jen because she's being a MAJOR help. Jen, I thank you an infinite amount of times (you can thank math class for that term-lol) and your help is greatly appreciated. Anywho, the next couple of chapters should be up soon, it kind of depends on how fast I write. I have chapter 15 half done and I'm starting on chapter 16 so they'll be up very shortly. Just a reminder, the more you review, the faster I write so please (I'm begging you here!) please please review! Thanks everybody!  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	14. Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

Disclaimer: If you think I actually own Harry Potter, you're on crack. In other words, for those who didn't understand the previous sentence I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER. Thank you.  
  
OK! Here's chapter 14! Once again, a big huge thanks goes to my friend Jen who's awesome! Jen, I wouldn't be able to do this without your help! Anywho, please read and review, thanks!  
  
Special Note for Hitomi Fanel: I would love for you to draw James in the pink dress, I would find it highly amusing! E-mail me if you do! My e- mail's on my profile under my bio so please do draw it! I would love to see it. And thanks for all the positive reviews!  
  
Special Note for peachgirl1608: I know you reviewed like ages ago but I thought I should answer your question, yeah, I kind of 'borrowed' stuff from the movie but my main reference point has been the first Harry Potter book.  
  
Special Note to everyone else who has reviewed: Thanks for reviewing! Constructive criticism is always welcome and thanks for being so positive! Hearing that others like my story really makes my day!  
  
Chapter 14: Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?  
  
Lily soon discovered that being muggle born didn't put her at much of a disadvantage in her classes. Even those from wizarding families didn't' have much of a head start because there was so much to learn. The only exception was Megan. Lily had suspected Megan knew more about magic than she let on, and was soon convinced this was so. With little effort, Megan was easily one of Hogwarts' most talented students. Whenever a teacher asked a question, Megan knew the answer. As if that wasn't enough, she also possessed a large amount of charm and could get away with just about anything, but she wasn't the only one. Lily had noticed Sirius was also quite charming. In the few short weeks since school had started, several of the girls had developed crushes on him and would gaze at him with dreamy expressions for hours on end.  
  
James, however, was a whole different matter. Far from being charming like his two friends, he was easily one of, if not the most arrogant person Lily had ever met. He would swagger down the hallways like he owned the place, despite the embarrassment he had suffered at Megan's hands. Lily was sure the only thing keeping him somewhat in check was the fact that Megan still had control of him. Although, Megan had yet to make him do anything even close to being as embarrassing as the 'pretty in pink incident', as it was now referred to, but Megan had informed Lily that would be changed shortly. The weirdest part about it was that despite his ego, James was popular. It blew Lily's mind that this scrawny little dorky four-eyed kid was popular. She could understand why Sirius was, but James? It was impossible! She came to the conclusion that the only logical reason he popular was because he was friends with Sirius.  
  
Another thing Lily had a hard time figuring out was how Remus and Peter were friends with the two pranksters. Granted, Peter was more of a tag-a- long then a friend but Remus was in no way shape or form a mere tag-a-long, but rather quite good friends with the pair. Lily just couldn't understand why such a nice, polite, quiet, studious and serious boy would want to hang out with two obnoxious, rambunctious, arrogant and foolhardy boys who could care less about schoolwork.  
  
While in the library one day, Lily decided to ask him about it. Maybe he wasn't really friends with them, but rather just needed someone to hang out with. While Megan returned several books, including Moste Potente Potions, Lily wandered over to the table Remus was sitting at.  
  
"Hi Remus!" she said as she sat down across from him.  
  
Remus looked up from his work and smiled, "Oh, hi Lily," he said.  
  
"Whatcha doing?" Lily asked.  
  
"My Potions essay for Friday," Remus replied, "I found some really good stuff for it in these books." He indicated a stack of about six books to Lily's left. "Some of the stuff was very interesting, I never dragon's blood had so many properties."  
  
"Yeah, neither did I," Lily said with a laugh, "But then again, I didn't even know dragons existed until July."  
  
Remus laughed too, "It must have been quite a shock to get that letter," he said, "I was kind of surprised when I got mine too."  
  
"How come?" Lily inquired, although she had a feeling she knew the answer.  
  
"It was just a bit of a shock, that's all," Remus replied hastily, "I hadn't realized I'd get to come here."  
  
"But I thought all wizarding kids came here," Lily said.  
  
"Yeah, but I, um, I mean, er," Remus stuttered.  
  
"It's OK," Lily cut in apologetically, "It's really none of my business."  
  
Remus looked relieved, then turned suspicious, "Do you know something?" he asked.  
  
"What?" Lily said, taken aback, "No, I don't think so."  
  
Remus relaxed, "OK, never mind," he said, "Guess I'm just being paranoid."  
  
After an awkward silence, Lily spoke.  
  
"Well, at least you aren't leaving your assignment until the last minute," she commented, "Like some people I could name."  
  
"I assume you're referring to James and Sirius," Remus said, sounding amused.  
  
"Who else?" Lily said as she rolled her eyes, "I don't know how you can stand them! They're so arrogant! Well, Sirius not so much, but James is impossible!"  
  
"Ah, he just takes some getting used to," Remus said dismissively.  
  
"That's what Megan said," Lily said.  
  
"Well, Megan is usually right," Remus said.  
  
"I just don't understand how you can be friends with them!" Lily exclaimed, "You're the complete opposite of them! You don't break rules, you don't mess around during class, you do you're homework, you're quiet and polite, how can you stand them?"  
  
Remus shrugged, "We're more alike then you think," he replied.  
  
"Still, how can you be friends with them?" Lily asked.  
  
"We just are," he replied, "It's that simple."  
  
"Nothing's that simple," Lily argued.  
  
Remus shrugged again, "Whatever," he said.  
  
Megan came bounding over, "Hey guys!" she said. She looked at Remus' scattered notes, "Potions essay?" she asked.  
  
Remus nodded, "Yep," he replied, "Are you done yours?"  
  
"Of course," Megan replied with a grin, "I was just returning a book on potions actually."  
  
"What book?" Remus inquired.  
  
"Everyday Potions For Students," Megan replied with a perfectly straight face, "It's quite good and very helpful. It also had few unusual spells as well."  
  
Lily bit her tongue to keep from laughing aloud. Megan sure was quick on her feet when it came to being questioned about things.  
  
"Guess I'll have to check it out then," Remus said.  
  
**************  
  
The week passed slowly with little excitement until Friday afternoon. Having completed another week of classes, Lily and Megan relaxed under a large tree by the lake after class as they discussed more revenge ideas.  
  
"Well, why don't we do something to a teacher?" Lily suggested, "That would get them in a lot of trouble."  
  
"But which teacher?" Megan asked, "We need someone who would totally freak about it."  
  
"McGonagall?" Lily offered.  
  
Megan shook her head, "No, we want to get them in trouble, not kill them," she said.  
  
"Couldn't we do both?" Lily asked hopefully," Then they'd never bother us again."  
  
Megan grinned, "Good point," she said, "McGonagall it is. So what should we do? Warts, boils, green hair, horrible make-up.?"  
  
"Why not the works?"  
  
"Now you're talking!"  
  
"And levitate Flitwick," Lily said, "That'll be good for a laugh because he's so tiny."  
  
"Indeed it will," Megan agreed, "Make Sprout grow grass for hair."  
  
"Turn Laroche's clothes pink."  
  
"Now that's just downright dangerous."  
  
"Yes, but funny."  
  
"True enough," Megan agreed, "And make Binns mute because he drones on and on and on. It's like he's full of those energizer batteries muggles use for their little toys."  
  
"Should we hex Dumbledore?" Lily asked.  
  
"No!" Megan said, "He's the Headmaster! But we could hex Griffin, she's not the nicest Deputy Headmistress in the world."  
  
"Didn't you say her niece was in Gryffindor with us though? What if she gets made about it and goes after the boys?" Lily asked.  
  
"Nah, she would think it was hilarious," said Megan, "She doesn't like her much either, even if she is her aunt."  
  
"So should we." Lily started but she was interrupted by the arrival of Malfoy, Snape, Simon, Jennifer and Bellatrix (Sirius' cousin).  
  
"Why, hello mudbloods," Malfoy drawled, "Having fun are we?"  
  
"We were until you stupid Slytherins showed up!" Lily snapped as she stood up.  
  
"Oh look everybody!" exclaimed Jennifer, "Megan's little pet can talk!"  
  
Megan stood up and drew her wand, "You think you're so witty don't you?" she said, "Well I think you're a bit batty! Kenitious!" Green sparks shot out of Megan's wand and turned into giant bats that dive-bombed the Slytherins before flying off.  
  
"And I think you could all use a bit of colour!" Lily said, "Colorare!" Multi-coloured sparks shot out of her wand and turned the Slytherins' clothing bright neon colours.  
  
"Brilliant Lily!" Megan exclaimed.  
  
The Slytherins, however, we not amused.  
  
"You're in trouble this time!" Simone spluttered, "When my father."  
  
"Running to daddy now are we?" Megan mocked, "Are you a crybaby Simon?"  
  
"No!" Simon said, but there was slight whine in his voice. He pulled out his wand. "And you're going to regret saying that mudblood! Dakfulikos!"  
  
But Megan was too quick for him. "Protego!" she shouted and the spell was deflected back at Simon who managed to duck just in time so the spell hit Snape instead.  
  
Lily and Megan giggled as Snape's legs wobbled all over the place.  
  
"Idiot!" Snape yelled as he pulled out his wand and pointed it at Simon, "Incendio!" Sparks flew from his wand at Simon and the hem of Simon's robes caught fire.  
  
"AHH!" he yelled, "Put it out! Put it out!" He ran over to the lake and splashed around to put out the flames. He turned around and pointed his wand at Snape. "Densaugeo!" he yelled and sparks shot at Snape, but he somehow managed to duck, and the spell hit Bellatrix instead.  
  
"You imbecile!" she shrieked as he teeth began growing at and alarming rate. She pulled out her wand but because of her teeth, she could no longer talk and as a result, he spell backfired so that she was thrown back into Jennifer and Malfoy.  
  
"You know, they really do more damage to themselves then if we hexed them," Megan commented, and Lily laughed.  
  
"Get off me!" Malfoy yelled angrily, as he pushed the girls aside. He stood up, brushed himself off, and drew his wand. He muttered something and his wand emitted a loud 'bang' and everyone fell silent.  
  
"Why are we fighting each other?" he asked coldly, "We came here to hex the mudbloods."  
  
"Oh, but watching you fight amongst yourselves is so much more entertaining!" Megan said and Lily giggled.  
  
Malfoy was livid. "You see how they mock us?" he roared, "They deserve to be on the receiving end of our spells!"  
  
"To bad we're to advanced for you so it's always going to be you who's on the receiving end," Megan said, "And guess what? I'm feeling generous today. What about you Lily? Are you in a giving mood?  
  
"Yes, yes I am," Lily said.  
  
"Well, there's more of us then there are of you so there!" Malfoy said, "And I'm going to get you!"  
  
"Oh really?" Megan said, "You and what army?"  
  
"Who do you think? They're right behind me." he trailed off as he looked over his shoulder to discover his companions were running away as fast as they could. He made a strange gurgling noise as he looked nervously at Megan, and then bolted after his companions.  
  
Megan and Lily collapsed into a heap of giggles.  
  
"Wow!" Lily said when they had calmed down, "They really are stupid aren't they?"  
  
"Uh huh," Megan said, "But maybe we should head back to the Common Room, just so that they don't come looking for us again."  
  
"Sounds like a plan," Lily said and they headed off in towards the castle.  
  
*************  
  
Later that night, after dinner in the Common Room, Professor McGonagall entered. Everyone looked up expectantly.  
  
"Not to worry," she said, "There's no news, I just need to speak with Remus."  
  
Everyone looked over at Remus who was sitting with the other Gryffindor first year boys. He stood up and walked over to McGonagall who took him outside. He returned several minutes later, went up to the boys' dormitory, came back downstairs with a small duffle bag, said good-bye to his friends saying he was needed at home and would return in a few days, and then left with McGonagall.  
  
"Well that was odd," Lily heard James say, "Wonder what's up?"  
  
"His mom probably misses him or something," Lily heard Sirius reply, "You know how over protective she is."  
  
Lily looked at Megan who nodded.  
  
Yes, it made sense Remus was leaving, as the next day was a full moon. Lily wondered what it must be like for him to have to lie about where he was going. She had noticed he had seemed rather sickly the past few days but hadn't realized he would have to leave so soon. Then again, if it kept her safe, she didn't mind. She felt sorry for him but the fact that he wouldn't be in the school made her feel safer. This feeling in turn made her feel guilty. Remus was one of the nicest boys she'd ever met and she was scared of him.  
  
She had asked Megan about werewolves before. Megan had explained that many in the magic community feared werewolves and that their fears were valid as some werewolves were actually quite nasty. However, she said it was unfair to judge all werewolves as being the same. After all, not all witches and wizards were nice. She had also explained the reason Remus was refraining from telling people he was werewolf was because he would have been bullied mercilessly by other students and many parents would likely complain to Dumbledore about him being at school. The parents wouldn't care about safety measures and would rather have him out of Hogwarts completely. Even in the magic world there was a lot of discrimination.  
  
After hearing about this Lily had felt guilty about her reaction to when Megan had told her Remus was a werewolf. She had jumped to conclusions without getting to know Remus first and who was she to judge? She wasn't perfect either. She resolved to become better friends with Remus in hopes of making him feel comfortable enough that he didn't have to keep his secret.  
  
She leaned back in her chair and looked around the packed common room. Maybe if the other Gryffindors were just as accepting of Remus as she hoped she was, he wouldn't feel the need to hide, but she knew that was a big maybe. She had gottan the impression Remus was very nervous about telling others more about himself than he needed to.  
  
"Something wrong Lily?" asked Julie.  
  
Lily shook her head, "No," she replied, "Just thinking."  
  
"About what?" inquired Julie.  
  
Lily grinned, "How sweet revenge is," she said.  
  
"Ah," Julie said, "I see. So have you decided what this revenge will be yet?"  
  
Lily nodded, "Yep," she said.  
  
"Are you going to tell me?" Julie asked.  
  
"Nope," Lily said.  
  
"And why's that?" asked Julie.  
  
"It's a surprise," said Lily.  
  
"That big huh?" Julie said, "I get the feeling you and Megan are going all out for this."  
  
"Oh yeah," said Lily, "We are."  
  
"Then I can't wait to see it," said Julie.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
OK so that's the end of chapter 15 and as once again I need to thank Jen for all her help. I know, it was mostly just fluff but I did have some excitement in it. I'm slowly trying to bring Lily's character back to being the excitable and hyperactive girl she was at the beginning and I'm trying to focus less on Megan. I know, for awhile there it was all about Megan but it was from Lily's perspective so it was really weird, sorry about that. I'm trying to stay away from that and it's getting easier because Lily's becoming more accustomed and comfortable with the magical world. The next few chapters will be up fairly soon, I have a rough outline for them so writing them out depends on how much homework I get because the more homework I have, the less free time I have. Anywho, please review with your ideas/opinions/advice/constructive criticism because they are greatly appreciated. Thanks!  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	15. Toilet Trauma

Disclaimer: Just in case you don't know, Harry Potter and all associated are the property of J.K. Rowling and therefore are not mine. Please refrain from suing me as I currently have no money at this time. Thank you.  
  
Here's chapter 15! If you liked "Pretty in Pink", you'll probably like this chapter. No, it's not a 'gross-out' chapter, although some things are a little disturbing but remember, this is rated PG so it's not going to be really super gross. The ironic thing is, the grossest part of this chapter doesn't even relate to the chapter title. A few of you may have picked up on it already but it's not really super obvious until you think about it. I didn't even need to bring it up but if I didn't there would be a bit of a loophole and I hate loopholes. Besides, I personally found the events of this chapter quite humorous. Once again a big thanks to Jen who's helping me out a whole bunch. Jen, you're awesome! Please please please review because when I get reviews I feel happy and I know all of you like to make people feel happy. Anywho, enough nattering, enjoy!  
  
Chapter 15: Toilet Trauma  
  
Lily and Megan hurried down the hallway to the Room of Requirement. They ducked inside, closing and locking the door behind them. As they sat down, Megan pulled out a piece of paper, unfolded it and placed it on the table. The two girls looked over it carefully then got to work measuring ingredients.  
  
"We still need to figure out what we're going to do for glasses," Megan said thoughtfully.  
  
"Can't we just transfigure something?" Lily asked.  
  
Megan shook her head, "No, not without James' prescription," she said," And as far as I can tell, whoever turns into James will actually need glasses to see."  
  
Lily thought a minute, "Can you mimic the appearances of other people exactly?" she asked.  
  
Megan shrugged, "I suppose," she replied, "I've never really tried to mimic someone exactly though 'cause it's really super hard."  
  
"Well, why don't you turn into James then and I'll turn into Sirius?" said Lily, "That way we don't have to worry about James' prescription."  
  
"Makes sense," Megan agreed as she dumped a silvery powder into the cauldron, "I'll have to practice it though, just so everything looks right."  
  
"When are you going to practice then?" asked Lily.  
  
"How about now?" Megan replied. She rolled up her sleeves and squeezed her eyes shut to concentrate. She wrinkled her nose and with a small 'pop!' her hair changed jet-black and short like James. For added effect, it was also quite messy. She wrinkled her nose again her nose, which had a bump on it (presumably from being hit by a bludger or two during Quidditch), straightened itself and became identical to James'. Her ears grew slightly but her own broad shoulders became narrower. Her legs, which were rather muscular from sports, grew very skinny and knobby as she grew a few inches. When she opened her eyes, they were no longer blue, but brown. She now looked like a rather feminine James.  
  
"Not bad for your first try," Lily commented, "You look like his girly brother."  
  
Megan studied herself in a mirror on the far wall, "I need a picture to look at for details," she said thoughtfully, "Although, Sirius was right, James does have 'great legs'. Just look at them in this kilt! It's very Scottish." (A/N: No I am not insulting Scottish people! I happen to be Scottish thank you very much.)  
  
Lily giggle, "I think when we do this we should wear really horribly tacky clothes," she said, "Like pink!"  
  
"Yeah!" agreed Megan, "And orange!"  
  
"Neon green!"  
  
"Purple!"  
  
"Yellow!"  
  
"Plaid!"  
  
"Tie-dye!"  
  
"Floral print!"  
  
"So old lady clothes?" Lily asked.  
  
"Yep, that sounds about right," Megan said with a grin, "Only its more old lady meets a hippie drag queen who's day job is a being a lumberjack."  
  
"Sounds good," Lily agreed as she tried not to burst out laughing.  
  
"I'm definitely going to need a picture of this to go with the one of James singing "I Feel Pretty"," Megan said thoughtfully as she changed back into herself with a final 'pop'.  
  
"I want one too," Lily sad, "But how will we get one?"  
  
"A camera perhaps.?" Megan replied.  
  
"But we'll need someone to take it for us, won't we?" Lily asked.  
  
"Lily, have you learned nothing?" Megan asked. She pointed at several bottles of potion ingredients, which floated over to her. "Magic makes everyday things much simpler."  
  
"I see," Lily said.  
  
"The thing I'm worried about is our alibi for being late for dinner," she said, "We can say we're finishing homework or something in the Common Room but the potion lasts an hour. Unless we." she trailed off, lost in thought.  
  
Lily thought too. What could they do to for the timing to work?"  
  
"I've got it!" Megan exclaimed suddenly, startling Lily.  
  
"What?" Lily asked.  
  
"First you'll drink the potion that will turn you into James then you'll drink the potion again but instead of containing a piece of Sirius' hair." Megan started excitedly.  
  
"Eew! I have to put Sirius' hair in it?" Lily said.  
  
".You'll drink the potion but it'll have your own hair in it!" Megan finished triumphantly.  
  
"I have to eat.drink.digest Sirius' hair?!" Lily exclaimed.  
  
"Well yeah, you need a piece of the person you're turning into," Megan said, "Would you rather use his toenail clippings?"  
  
"No!" Lily said.  
  
"See, hair's the best thing to use," Megan said.  
  
Lily thought a minute, "Wait, Sirius is a guy," she said.  
  
"Obviously," Megan said as she rolled her eyes.  
  
"So if I turn into him does that mean I'll have, a, you-know-what?" Lily asked. (A/N: If you can't figure out what she's referring to, you're an idiot. And I also think a lot of people will stop reading here or will start sending me bad reviews saying they can't believe how disgusting I am and how they'll never read my story again.)  
  
"Huh?" Megan said, confused, then it clicked, "You mean a.eew! That's gross! Oh my god!"  
  
"So I would?" Lily asked, "That's super gross!"  
  
"Good god! I didn't even think of it when I came up with this idea!" Megan said, "Eew, that's just sick."  
  
They calmed down slowly.  
  
"So are we still going to do it?" Lily asked tentatively.  
  
"It's up to you," Megan said, "But I think we might as well. How bad could it be?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, let's just do it," Lily said slowly, "It'll only be for an hour max, right?"  
  
"Right," Megan said.  
  
They worked in silence for a few minutes until.  
  
"Ah crap, why didn't I think of it before?" Megan said, "Of course it would happen, they're guys and we're girls. Eew, that's just downright wrong."  
  
The two spent another several minutes in hysterics trying to get over the grossness of their revenge situation.  
  
*************  
  
Lily lay on her bed thinking about the Polyjuice Potion. Talk about revenge being bittersweet. She couldn't get past the fact that she would be turning into a full-fledged boy, it was quite a disturbing thought. Oh well, if it meant revenge she figured it was worth it. She rolled out of bed and dressed quickly before going down to the common room where she discovered Megan was busy writing something in the corner. At that moment, all eight of the first year Gryffindor boys (Remus had returned a few days after his sudden departure) came clattering down the stairs.  
  
"Good morning Lily!" Sirius said cheerfully, "Lovely morning isn't it?"  
  
It took all of Lily's self-control to keep a straight face. "Yes it is," she managed to say.  
  
"We're still waiting for that revenge you promised," James said with a slight smirk.  
  
"Oh it's coming," Megan said as she walked over, "But in the meantime, you can have some fun with this." She held out a piece of paper and James slowly took it, his smirk having vanished in an instant and been replaced by an expression of horror.  
  
His went white as a sheet as he read and looked thoroughly gross-out. "Three words," he said, "You are so twisted."  
  
"That's four words," said Megan, "But thanks."  
  
Sirius took the paper from James and he howled with laughter. "This is brilliant!" he said, "This is going to be great!"  
  
"Maybe for you," James said angrily.  
  
Lily looked inquiringly at Megan. "What does he have to do?" she asked.  
  
"He has to go into the girls' lavatory, stick his head in the toilet and I'm going to give him a swirly," replied Megan.  
  
The other boys roared with laughter but James wore a rather pained expression.  
  
"What's a swirly?" Lily asked.  
  
"You don't know what a swirly is?" David said in surprise.  
  
"If I knew would I ask?" Lily snapped.  
  
"Ah," said Dave.  
  
"A swirly's when someone sticks their head in a toilet and you flush it on them," Steve explained, "Muggle bullies do it too. Well, boys do anyway, it's not really a 'girl thing'."  
  
"It doesn't sound like it," said Lily. She felt about reading to throw up. "For once I have to agree with James. You are twisted Megan."  
  
"Oh, I know," Megan replied with a grin, "But it makes things so much more amusing."  
  
"I suppose," Lily said slowly.  
  
"I didn't used to mind your sick sense of humour but now I do," James said.  
  
"That's alright," Megan said, "Anywho, after Defence Against the Dark Arts we'll make a little pit stop before coming back to the common room so you can worry about it all day."  
  
"You mean we have to wait all day for the excitement?" Sirius groaned, "Come on Megan! Make him do it now and have him go to class all gross!"  
  
"Hey! Who's side are you on anyway?" James demanded, "Quit giving her ideas!"  
  
"Actually, that sounds like a good idea," Megan said slowly, "Thanks Sirius! OK, James you'll do it right after breakfast before History of Magic."  
  
"I am so going to kill you Sirius!" James yelled as he lunged at his laughing friend.  
  
Sirius jumped away and an off, James chasing after him.  
  
"Sorry mate!" Sirius said as he ran, "But it'll be funny!"  
  
*************  
  
The Gryffindor first-years walked down the hallway to the girls' bathroom. When they reached it, Megan pushed open the door and they went inside.  
  
"Myrtle?" Megan called, "Are you in here?"  
  
A silvery ghost floated over. She was a young girl wearing a Hogwarts uniform and glasses. Her hair was in pigtails and she seemed rather gloomy. Then again, Lily thought, most people would be gloomy if they were dead.  
  
"When am I not here?" the girl replied.  
  
"Ah," said Megan, "Sorry."  
  
"What do you want anyway?" the girl demanded.  
  
"Well, I was wondering if you would allow us, the Gryffindor first-years that is, to humiliate one of our own," Megan replied.  
  
"What does he have to do?" asked Myrtle.  
  
"He has to stick his head in the toilet and get a swirly," replied Megan.  
  
"You said 'he'," Myrtle said, "But this is a girls' bathroom."  
  
"That's what makes it even more amusing," said Megan, "So can we?"  
  
Myrtle hesitated, "Well." she said slowly.  
  
"You can flush the toilet on him," Megan said.  
  
Myrtle grinned, "OK!" she said eagerly.  
  
The group crowded around one of the stalls and James stepped inside. He took off his glasses, handed them to Sirius and took a deep breath.  
  
"Ready?" Megan asked.  
  
James made a strange gurgling noise in reply and the group giggled. He glared at them.  
  
"Well then, do it!" Megan said and slowly the group began chanting, "Do it! Do it!" at James.  
  
Slowly James lowered his head into the toilet. Myrtle floated over and flushed it on him. Everyone laughed as his already messy hair swirled around his head like crazy in the water. He straightened, his hair flat to his scalp in wild clumps, took a fist full of robes and wiped his face.  
  
"I will get you back," he said to Megan as he took his glasses from Sirius and put them back on.  
  
"Maybe," Megan said, "But I doubt you could come up with anything as bad as having to stick your head in a toilet."  
  
"That's what you think," James said before storming off. The boys followed him still laughing.  
  
Megan turned to Myrtle, "Thanks Myrtle," she said, "Is there anything I can do for you?"  
  
Myrtle shook her head, "No," she replied, she was no longer quite as gloomy as she had been before, "But thanks for the offer."  
  
"OK," Megan said, "Well, we better get to class so bye."  
  
"Bye," Myrtle said.  
  
The girls left and headed to class.  
  
"I wonder what people will say when they see him?" Brittany said with a grin.  
  
"Well I think he looks like a drowned rat," Karen said.  
  
Lily turned to Megan, "How'd you come up with that anyway?" she asked.  
  
Megan grinned, "Simple," she replied, "I realized guys hate going in the girls' bathrooms and what do think of when you think of bathrooms? Toilets. So it was quite an easy plan."  
  
"I see," said Lily, "But it's still overly disturbing. You sure have a sick sense of humour Megan."  
  
"What can I say?" Megan said, "Guess I'm just gifted. Either that or it's because I hang out with boys all the time."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
OK, that's all for now! Hope you enjoyed and weren't to disturbed. I can almost guarantee a few people will never read this story again because of the events/realizations in this chapter. The whole thing with the Polyjuice Potion was kind of obvious though if you think about it and I'm sure some of you thought about it beforehand. That obvious will pop up a few more times until it's no longer relevant to the storyline but I can almost promise that there will be no more swirlies ever. Anywho, hope you all had an awesome Halloween on Friday! I know I sure did! Please review (even if you think I'm a sick minded freak)! Thanks!  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	16. Tricks and Treats

Disclaimer: I in no way shape or form own any of the original Harry Potter characters. I do however own any characters you are unfamiliar with along with the plot and any randomly made up words.  
  
OK, here's chapter 16! It's a little weird in the fact that most of it seems to occur before Halloween but that's alright, it still works. It looks like it's going to be a longer chapter too because of that, but oh well, as long as it's not a long boring chapter it's OK. Once again big thanks go to my friend Jen who is still helping me out because my computer is a piece of crap. Jen, you're awesome, I totally owe you for this! Anywho, please read and review because reviews make me happy!  
  
Chapter 16: Tricks & Treats  
  
As the month of October drew to a close, Halloween decorations began appearing throughout the castle.  
  
"You know what's kind of ironic for me about Halloween this year?" Lily said as she and the other girls watched Hagrid set up giant jack-o-lanterns in the entrance hall.  
  
"What?" asked Erin.  
  
"I went dressed as a witch last Halloween when I went trick or treating," Lily said and the girls laughed.  
  
"Wow," Megan commented, "Talk about an ironic twist of fate!"  
  
"Have you guys ever gone trick or treating?" Kristin asked as she turned to Megan, Karen, Julie and Brittany.  
  
"I went once," Julie said, "But it was really odd to see people dressed up like things they think are imaginary but are actually real."  
  
"Yeah," agreed Brittany, "But the candy was worth it."  
  
"How could it not be?" Karen said, "It was free."  
  
"Good point," said Brittany.  
  
"Have you two gone?" Kristin asked Karen and Megan.  
  
Both girls nodded.  
  
"I went out a few times," said Karen, "It was actually pretty fun."  
  
"I kind of had to go because I live in a muggle neighborhood," Megan said, "It would have looked really suspicious if I didn't."  
  
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Kristin said.  
  
"Halloween is definitely one of my favourite holidays," Carol said as the girls walked outside into the autumn sun, "I love dressing up in funny costumes."  
  
"Hey!" Megan exclaimed, "I just got an idea! Why don't we see if Dumbledore will let us have a big costume party?"  
  
"Yeah!" agreed Lily, "And with magic the costumes would be really amazing!"  
  
"But will Dumbledore let us?" Julie said.  
  
"Probably," Megan said, "You know how much he loves muggle things. I'll get Alex to ask him tonight."  
  
"And Alex won't mind?" Karen asked.  
  
"Nah," Megan said, "I'm his little sister which means he has to be nice to me. If he isn't, I'll write mum and he'll be in big trouble."  
  
The girls laughed as they continued their walk around the grounds.  
  
*************  
  
The next day at dinner, once everyone had taken their seats, Dumbledore stood up and the chatter died away. He cleared his throat and then spoke.  
  
"As you know," he said, "Halloween is almost upon us. I have been approached with an idea to have a costume party instead of just our usual feast. I must say I feel this is an excellent suggestion and after having discussed it with the other teachers, have decided we shall do just that. Not only will we be having a feast this year but rather a costume feast and party which will include music, dancing and games."  
  
There were loud cheers from the majority of the students. Only the Slytherins seemed unhappy.  
  
"Therefore I am assuming that immediately following dinner you will begin working on your costumes," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling, "I would like to thank the first year Gryffindor girls for the excellent suggestion."  
  
There were more cheers and applause from everyone but the Slytherins as everyone turned to look at the girls.  
  
"As there is no more news and I do not doubt that you are all incredibly hungry, tuck in!" Dumbledore said.  
  
Immediately, food appeared on the plates and the students eagerly dug in.  
  
"Way to go girls!" Shawn called from a few seats down.  
  
"Yeah!" agreed Aaron, "That was a great idea you had!"  
  
"It was all Megan's idea," said Brittany.  
  
"It was not," Megan said, "We all came up with it."  
  
"It was completely your idea and you know it," Kristin said.  
  
Megan just rolled her eyes and began eating. Lily looked down the table and saw that James was having a rather animated conversation with Sirius.  
  
"We need to come up with something really spectacular!" he said, "Something no one will ever forget!"  
  
"Just wear a dress then!" Lily called down, "Or better yet, dress up like a toilet!"  
  
James face went rather red and everyone gaped at Lily before bursting out laughing.  
  
"Oh burn!" Megan yelled at James.  
  
"That was huge!" Sirius said, "Very nice Lily, I'm impressed."  
  
Lily grinned, "Thanks," she said.  
  
*************  
  
After dinner, Lily and Megan hung back so they could go check on their potion without anyone knowing. However, as soon as they left the hall, they were confronted by all of the Slytherin first years.  
  
"Well, well, well, what have we hear?" Malfoy smirked as he swaggered forward, "Two Mudbloods who want to celebrate Halloween like muggles, well isn't that something new."  
  
"I guess we'll need to make very scary costumes then," Snape smirked, "Just for them."  
  
"So you're going as yourselves?" Megan asked.  
  
The Slytherins looked taken aback but quickly regained their composure and glared at her menacingly.  
  
"Good one!" Lily said as she and Megan high-fived.  
  
"You know," Bellatrix said in a cold voice, "You shouldn't insult your betters. If you show no respect you shall receive none in return."  
  
"Yeah 'cause you know how much I want your respect," Megan said as she rolled her eyes.  
  
Bellatrix bristled like and angry cat, "I would watch your step if I were you," she hissed.  
  
Megan raised her eyebrows, "Is that a threat?" she asked.  
  
Bellatrix smiled in a way that sent chills up Lily's spine, "Maybe," she replied rather coyly, as if she was a cat toying with a mouse before devouring it.  
  
Megan rolled her eyes again, "Right." she said, "I'll do that. Come on Lily, we should get going."  
  
The two girls turned to leave but their way was blocked by two of the largest 11 year olds Lily had ever seen.  
  
Megan's eyes narrowed, "Crabbe, Goyle," she said through clenched teeth, "Would you be so kind as to move?"  
  
The boys grunted in reply and took a step forward but Megan wasn't about to back down.  
  
"I'm asking you nicely," she said, "Please move."  
  
"You wouldn't want to ruin our fun now would you?" Jennifer asked with a small pout, "We just want to play with you two."  
  
Megan turned to her, "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.  
  
Lily watched Megan and noticed she was slowly pulling out her wand, careful to keep it hidden from in her sleeve.  
  
"Well then how could you even think of leaving?" Jennifer asked.  
  
In a flash, Megan had her wand out and pointed it straight up in the air.  
  
"Cielieux!" she yelled and with a loud bang, a large cloud of thick fog floated out of her wand, encircling the entire group.  
  
Within seconds, the frantic yells and screams of the Slytherins were heard. Lily looked around, trying to see where Megan had gone. She felt someone grab her arm and, assuming it was Megan, allowed them to drag her out of the fog with little resistance. However, once out of the fog, she saw it was Malfoy, not Megan, who had pulled her out of the fog. He was wearing a particularly chilling expression. Lily couldn't understand how someone so young could look so evil.  
  
"Let me go!" she yelled as she tried to pull free, but Malfoy held fast.  
  
"I'm afraid I can't do that," he replied as he pulled out his wand, "Seeing as I can't inflict my revenge on Megan, you'll just have to do."  
  
"What are you going to do?" Lily asked, a note of panic in her voice.  
  
Malfoy smiled a sinister smile but before he could reply, he was blasted backwards. Lily turned to see Megan with her wand out looking absolutely livid. She walked over to Lily rather briskly.  
  
"Are you alright?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, fine," Lily aid, but her voice shook slightly, "What did you do to him?"  
  
"Oh, he's just stunned," Megan said dismissively, "Come on, we should get out of here." She pointed her wand, mutterer something then grabbed Lily and bolted down the hallway.  
  
"Aren't you worried you'll get in trouble?" Lily asked when they stopped running.  
  
Megan shrugged, "What are they going to do?" she said, "Say two of us attacked more then 10 of them? I doubt anyone would believe them."  
  
"But aren't you worried about what they'll do for revenge?" asked Lily.  
  
"Not really," Megan replied, "It's just the Slytherins, they can't do anything."  
  
"If you say so," Lily said, but she still felt uneasy.  
  
*************  
  
It was the day before Halloween and the girls were busy scheming of pranks to pull on the boys for Devil's night in Lily, Megan, Karen and Carol's room.  
  
"We need something really good," said Karen, "Something they'll never forget."  
  
"I feel kind of bad about doing it to all of them though," Julie said, "I mean, James and Sirius are the only ones who ever do anything bad."  
  
"Yes, but all the boys hang out with them and are therefore guilty by association," Megan said.  
  
"What are we going to do though?" Lily asked, "Any ideas?"  
  
Megan grinned as she pulled out a piece of paper, "Well, here's a few," she said.  
  
Brittany took the paper. "Toilet paper, shaving cream, water, markers, paint, hair dye, make-up, pudding, mud, worms, glue, feathers, bubblegum toothpaste, fake vomit and dog doo," she read aloud. She looked up, "OK, wow," she said.  
  
"And I wrote specifics for each boy so they're all unique," Megan said, "For example, our dear friend Sirius Black will receive blue hair, a fabulous make-up job, shaving cream and pudding all over him topped with feathers and shredded toilet paper. Our dear friend James Potter will receive the five-star treatment as well. This includes, pink hair, topped with feathers to give it more texture, half of a mud pack, complete with worms, a lovely make-up job and scribbles in permanent marker all over him. Not to mention the fact that he will be utterly surrounded by fake vomit and dog doo and just for fun, will splash some water on hi lower body for added effect."  
  
"I think I'm going to like this," Lily said with a grin.  
  
*************  
  
The next few hours were spent organizing supplies and learning simple spells to make the work faster. Each girl was assigned a specific target. Lily of course had James and Megan had Sirius, while Karen had Remus, Carol had Peter, Julie had Steve, Brittany had Dave, Kristin had Shawn and Erin had Aaron. (A/N: Isn't the last pairing ironical???)  
  
"OK, here's what we do," Megan said, "We wait for them all to go to sleep then sneak into their dorms. We'll probably have to wait until at least midnight but I managed to plant a special little trinket I got at Diagon Alley in their room to keep us informed about what's going on."  
  
"How did you get into their room?" asked Carol.  
  
Megan grinned, "Who said I went in their room?" she said, "I used a hover charm to make it follow them upstairs earlier."  
  
"Ah," said Carol, "I see."  
  
"Anyway, it sort of works like those walkie-talkies muggles use," Megan explained, "I have the receiver here so we can listen to what's going on." She pulled out a small silver ball that was vibrating slightly. She tapped it and suddenly the voices of the boys were heard.  
  
"I still say we should pull a prank on the girls tonight," came Sirius' voice.  
  
"If we did Megan would murder me," came James' voice, "And it'd be all your fault, you and your stupid idea for a bet."  
  
"Don't blame me, I thought you'd win," Sirius replied.  
  
"You wanted Megan to win, don't deny it," James snapped, "Especially 'cause she's your girlfriend."  
  
"Yeah right!" said Sirius with a laugh, "As if! We're friends, always have been, always will be. Just like you and me. You, me and her are like the three musketeers. Besides, you like Lily!"  
  
"Do not!"  
  
"Do too!"  
  
"Do not!"  
  
"Do too!"  
  
Megan rolled her eyes, "Next thing you know they'll be singing "K I S S I N G" at each other," she said, "They always say the other has a crush on someone or other just to bug each other. Boys are so immature."  
  
"You can say that again," agreed Karen.  
  
Lily thought though, maybe James was just teasing her because he liked her but she still hated him. He really was a jerk and there was no way in a million years she'd ever like him at all, not even as friends.  
  
A few hours left and soon the only sound that came from the silver ball was the sound of light snoring and deep breathing. The girls grabbed their things and were about to leave the room when Megan stopped them.  
  
"Wait!" she said, "I should use a Disillusionment Charm so they can't see us!" She pulled out her wand and pointed at Lily and muttered something.  
  
The next thing she knew, Lily felt as though she was melting and when she looked down at her hands, the had taken on the exact colour of her surroundings.  
  
"OK, that's weird," Carol said, "What did you do?"  
  
"I made it so she's like a chameleon," Megan explained, "This way the boys can't see us."  
  
"I feel really weird," said Lily.  
  
"I'm not surprised," said Megan.  
  
She did the same thing to all the other girls before doing it to herself. They all left and headed for the boys' dormitories intent on completing their mission.  
  
*************  
  
The next morning, the girls awoke to panicked screams and yells. Grinning, they jumped out of bed and ran down to the Common Room to discover the boys had awakened to discover their new looks and were very confused.  
  
"Nice costumes boys," Megan commented, "But the party's not until tonight."  
  
"You did all this didn't you?" James said.  
  
"Of course not," Megan said, "My target was Sirius. Your new look was done by Lily, you know, your secret crush."  
  
James went bright red, "What are you talking about?" he said.  
  
"Oh, didn't I show you my new toy?" Megan said as she pulled out the little silver ball, "It's kind of like those walkie-talkies muggles use to talk to each other. You boys sure say interesting things when you don't think us girls are listening."  
  
All the boys looked mortified.  
  
"And I haven't even told you the best part!" Megan said, "It records everything it hears for later playback! Isn't that cool?"  
  
"You are so dead!!!" yelled James as he lunged at a laughing Megan who darted out of his way.  
  
Soon all the boys were chasing the girls around the common room while the older Gryffindors laughed hysterically.  
  
"Head for the dorms!" Megan yelled above the racket and the girls followed her lead and shot up the stairs to their dorms. However, when the boys went to follow, the stairs turned into a slide and they couldn't get upstairs but could only yell up at the girls from the bottom while the girls taunted them.  
  
*************  
  
The most amazing thing about the whole incident was that the girls didn't get in trouble for what they'd done to the boys because they easily fixed everything with a quick wave of a wand before any of the teachers saw.  
  
The rest of the day there was quite a lot of tension between the boys and girls until lunchtime when all was forgiven when the boys realized it wasn't really that bad and was actually funny. Plus, they also needed to get homework answers from them because none of them did well in Potions.  
  
Later that night, the girls readied themselves for the costume party. They had put together their own costumes and then Megan helped them to make them a bit more realistic with the help of some magic.  
  
"You sure know some useful spells," commented Julie as Megan added lace to the hem of her skirt, "How do you know all these spells?"  
  
Megan handed Julie her now lace-trimmed skirt and shrugged, "My mom likes to sew so she uses a lot of these spells," she explained, "That and I just read a lot."  
  
"What's your costume Megan?" Lily said as she adjusted her cat ears.  
  
"Yeah Megan," said Carol, "You've kept us in suspense long enough."  
  
Megan grinned, "Alright, but its real isn't anything fancy," she said as she went over to her trunk. She rummaged around for a minute then pulled out a pile of clothes, then disappeared behind her bed curtains to change. She emerged a few minutes later dressed in a flowing dark blue dress and a black belt with a silver buckle. She also wore a dark purple cape that was pinned under her chin by a silver and blue brooch. She had grown her hair out but had kept it her natural colour and if fell across her shoulders making her look several years older. For added effect to show it was still her, she wore a sword and scabbard on her belt. (A/N: The costume is based on a character from one of my original fiction stories. She happens to be one of my favourite characters I've ever written so I decided to include in somehow.) All the girls stared at her in surprise.  
  
"OK, who are you and what have you done with Megan?" asked Karen.  
  
"No one's going to know it's you!" Lily exclaimed.  
  
"When they see the sword they will," Megan said with a grin.  
  
"Where did you get the idea for such a cool costume?" asked Karen.  
  
Megan shrugged, "It just sort of came to me," she replied, "Now, are we going to go or just sit around talking all night?"  
  
The girls headed down to the common room in their finery. Lily twirled her tail around a bit as they descended the stairs. She liked her black cat costume a lot, even if it was pretty ordinary. Actually, all of the girl's costumes were pretty tame, nothing was overly weird which was fine; it was the boys' job to be over the top. Karen was a gypsy, Carol was a fairy, Julie was a doll, Brittany was an angel, Kristin was a ladybug and Erin was a pumpkin.  
  
When the girls reached the common room, the eight boys, who were dressed up as well, greeted them. Sirius was knight, Remus was a werewolf (A/N: Yet another ironical thing.), which Lily found rather amusing, Peter a ghost, Lily had the feeling he'd left his costume to the last minute, Steve was a mad scientist, Dave was a dragon, Shawn was Cesaer, Aaron was a vampire and James was.  
  
"I can't believe you actually took my advice," Lily said as she looked James' costume over, he was dressed like a toilet. "But I must say it's kind of a 'crappy' costume, if you know what I mean."  
  
Everyone groaned at the horrible pun, except Steve, who, for some strange reason, thought it was hilarious and was laughing rather hard.  
  
"Promise me you'll never say something like that ever again," said Carol.  
  
Lily grinned, "OK," she said, "I'll try not too."  
  
"You haven't seen the best part yet though!" James said, "Look! It even flushes!" He pressed the handle on his costume and the sound of water was heard.  
  
"Wow," commented Megan, "Who'd you get to help you with that?"  
  
"Who said I had help?" James asked but when Megan rolled her eyes he sighed, "Alright, I got help from Alex and Frank, so sue me."  
  
"Are we going to the party or what?" asked Karen.  
  
"Yeah! Let's go!" everyone said and they left.  
  
When the group entered the great hall they were immediately enchanted by all the amazingly magical decorations. There were already lots of students there in a variety of costumes. There was a group of about 10 people who had come dressed up like part of a deck of cards and another group of people were famous statues/monuments, which included the Statue of Liberty, the Sphinx and the Eiffel Tower. Another group had come dressed as a rock band, complete with long hair and ripped up clothes.  
  
"I think they're supposed to be the Musical Things," Megan said to Lily, "They're a popular rock band in the wizarding world."  
  
One girl was dressed like a peacock, another girl was a parrot and yet another girl was a flamingo. One boy was dressed up like an astronaut and a boy and girl were dressed up like prehistoric people, complete with animal skin clothes and bones in their hair.  
  
"These costumes are amazing!" exclaimed Carol.  
  
"You can say that again!" said Dave, "And to think I almost came as a football player!" (A/N: Remember, in Britain soccer is called football.)  
  
"Oh my god!" exclaimed Brittany, "Look at Dumbledore!"  
  
Everyone turned and see Dumbledore dressed as a disco dancer, complete with an afro and everything. Needless to say nearly everyone in the Great Hall was in shock.  
  
"What's up dudes?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
Everyone roared with laughter and applauded his costume.  
  
"This is the best Halloween ever!" said Erin.  
  
Music was playing and there was all kinds of food and games around. Megan and Lily wandered over to the ring toss to try their luck but before they could start, Sirius and James had come up beside them.  
  
"Hello ladies," Sirius said, "Your knights in shining armour have arrived."  
  
Megan snorted and Lily giggled.  
  
"OK, your knight in shining armour and your toilet have arrived," said Sirius.  
  
"Hey!" said James.  
  
"You want us to win you some prizes?" Sirius asked.  
  
"I think we're quite capable of winning our own prizes thank you very much," said Megan as she casually touched the hilt of her sword.  
  
"Ah," Sirius said as he eyed the sword, "I see."  
  
"Besides," said Lily, "You guys probably aren't any good anyway."  
  
"Oh yeah?" said James, "Just watch us."  
  
Several minutes later, the boys had won a few small prizes.  
  
"Now it's our turn," said Megan as she and Lily picked up a few rings. Very soon, they had a large pile of prizes of their own.  
  
"Now you must have cheated," said James, "There is no way you're that good. Girls are never good at stuff like this."  
  
"Right." said Megan, "I'm just really good at Quiddicth and football (A/N: Soccer for all non-British people.) and have good hand-eye coordination."  
  
"And I just happen to play sports with my friends all the time," Lily said, "But no, we must have cheated because we're girls."  
  
"Do you want some of our prizes to make you feel better?" asked Megan as she held out a doll.  
  
"No!" both boys said in unison.  
  
The girls laughed.  
  
"OK, but don't pout about being second best then," Lily said as the girls left with their new toys.  
  
"Let's go in the Haunted House!" Megan said excitedly as she pointed at small house that had been erected in the far corner of the hall.  
  
"OK!" Lily said.  
  
They left their prizes outside with Alex, who was in charge of the Haunted House, and went inside.  
  
"This is kind of creepy," Lily said as she looked around in the semi- darkness.  
  
"It's not that bad," Megan said, "Come on, let's go this way."  
  
The girls headed down a hallway and heard many creepy/haunted house type noises.  
  
"This is so cliché," Megan said, "Next thing you know the boys will jump out at us to try an scare us."  
  
They heard familiar voices.  
  
"I bet they're scared out of their wits!" they heard James say, "All girls hate haunted houses!"  
  
"We should scare them in here," they heard Sirius say, "That'd be awesome."  
  
Megan and Lily grinned then ducked inside a closet but kept the door open a crack to see out.  
  
"I wonder where they are?" James said as he stopped only a few feet away from the door.  
  
"Yeah," said Sirius, "They weren't too far ahead of us."  
  
"One." Megan whispered, "Two."  
  
"Do you hear something?" James asked.  
  
"Just creaking floorboards and rattling chains," said Sirius, "Why?"  
  
"I thought I heard voices," said James.  
  
"Well it is a haunted house," said Sirius.  
  
"Three!" Megan whispered then she and Lily burst out of the closet screaming and yelling like crazy.  
  
"AHHHHHHH!!!" yelled the boys who turned and ran back the way they'd come.  
  
Lily and Megan collapsed in a heap of giggles on the floor.  
  
"That was so not funny," James said as he and Sirius returned.  
  
"Yes it was!" both girls said.  
  
"Your faces were priceless!" Megan said.  
  
"Yeah, you were scared out of your minds!" Lily added.  
  
"And you say we're immature," said Sirius.  
  
The rest of the party was spent having an absolute blast. Lily couldn't remember ever having so much fun. She was even getting along with James of all people. The food was excellent and there were plenty of jokes and Lily was constantly laughing. At one point Peeves, the Hogwarts poltergeist, dropped in and started throwing water balloons at people, which was highly annoying, but then the Bloody Baron, the resident Slytherin ghost put a stop to it and Peeves left without much fuss.  
  
"Why do they even have a poltergeist?" Lily heard Jennifer, who was dressed like a sorceress, say to Bellatrix, who was also dressed like a sorceress, "If this was a half-way decent school they'd get rid of him."  
  
Bellatrix nodded in agreement, "They should," she said, "He is quite a nuisance."  
  
"But you're a bigger nuisance," Lily muttered under her breath.  
  
"Pardon?" Remus said.  
  
"Nothing," Lily replied, but she fumed inside. She had heard a lot of ugly rumours about the Slytherins but had tried not to assume things about them. However, after the incident outside the Great hall, she absolutely loathed the lot of them. They really were just a bunch of evil, spoiled, little brats. They had yet to give her a reason to think otherwise and she doubted they ever would.  
  
Slowly, the party ended and the students left to go to bed. However, the Gryffindors were far to hyper to go to bed just yet and decided to have their own party in the common room. That is, until Professor McGonagall appeared in the portrait hole in her dressing gown and robe and ordered them to stop.  
  
"But Professor," said one of Alex's friends, "It's only 1 o'clock."  
  
"I don't care what time it is," said Professor McGonagall, "It's time for the lot of you to go to bed. You can have a party when you when your first Quidditch match."  
  
The group slowly trudged up to bed. Lily curled up under her nice warm covers but couldn't get to sleep because of all the sugar she's consumed. She lay staring out the window at the sky.  
  
"I am never going to get to sleep," Megan said from the next bed over, "Too much sugar."  
  
"Same," said Lily, "But it was so worth it."  
  
"Were you actually getting along with James earlier?" Karen asked.  
  
Lily sat up, "I guess so, why?" she said.  
  
"I thought you thought he was the biggest jerk ever," said Karen.  
  
"I do," said Lily, "But he was fine tonight so I got along with him."  
  
"I think someone has a crush," Megan said.  
  
"Oh shut up!" said Lily, "I'm not even friends with the guy and you're saying I have a crush on him? Give me a break."  
  
"Well, we already know he kind of has a thing for you," Carol said.  
  
"Oh give it up," said Lily, "Please, the guy is still a jerk. I bet tomorrow he'll go back to being his old arrogant self."  
  
"Probably," Megan said, "But you never know, people change."  
  
"Shut up," Lily said as she threw her pillow at Megan but missed.  
  
"Pillow fight!" Megan yelled as she launched Lily's pillow back at her.  
  
The girls jumped up and started whacking each other with their pillows until a sixth year girl came in and told them to settle and go to bed.  
  
As Lily drifted off to sleep, she couldn't help but think about how great Hogwarts was.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It's finally done! Thanks again to Jen who helped me out by posting this for me. Took awhile but it's a pretty action-packed chapter. I know, near the end I stopped giving a lot of detail but oh well, it still works out. I think my foreshadowing is a tad to strong in this chapter but that's OK, you probably already picked up on the same stuff in previous chapters. Yeah, I know, sometimes they (meaning Lily and friends) don't act like 11 year olds but I'm working on that. I am aware most 11 year olds are not very sarcastic so I'll try and fix that. I'm also aware my creativity is horrible as far as Halloween costumes go but the problem is that all you really see now days are video game, TV, and movie characters at Halloween. I know, the fact that Remus was dressed like a werewolf is pretty ironical (Can you believe that's a real word? At least, according to my spellchecker it is.) but I thought it was funny. Anywho, chapter 18 should be finished soon, I'm still writing it out in rough at the moment but I should finish it really soon, it'll depend on how fast I type. However, I have a huge law project due Monday so it probably won't be up until next week. Well, hope you enjoyed! Please review, thanks!!!  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	17. Quidditch

Disclaimer: I do not in any way shape or form own Harry Potter. However, I do own any characters within this story that are not from the original books.  
  
Hey everyone!!! Thanks for all the awesome reviews you guys! I love checking my e-mail and seeing that people have read and reviewed my story, it really makes my day!!! Anyways, I have to especially thank Jen-who's still posting this story for me since my computer is crap-and Hitomi Fanel who's constantly reviewing with positive comments! I can't wait to see that picture you promised me!!! Anywho, here's chapter 18, enjoy and please review!!!  
  
Chapter 17: Quidditch  
  
After the excitement of Halloween, the weekend was rather dull, that is, until Sunday night. Earlier that day, Lily had noticed Megan was busy at work writing in the corner of the common room and everyone knew what that meant; James would be doing something very entertaining very soon. Sure enough, right before dinner, Megan handed the piece of paper to James who, once again, looked mortified.  
  
"Please tell me you're joking," James pleaded.  
  
Megan smiled, "Sorry," she said, "No can do."  
  
"I hate you so much," James said, he looked ready to explode. Lily had to respect the guy for keeping his temper in check, knowing Megan, whatever the task was that he had to do, it was bound to be unpleasant.  
  
"That's nice," Megan replied, still smiling, "Now, go have fun!"  
  
James gave her a dirty look, before stalking off towards the Great Hall, Sirius chasing after him. As the disappeared down the hallway, Lily could hear Sirius pestering James with questions.  
  
Megan turned to Lily, "We better hurry so we don't miss it," Megan said.  
  
"OK," Lily said and the two took off towards the Great Hall as well.  
  
As they entered, Lily saw James making his way towards the Slytherin table.  
  
"This is going to be great," Megan said.  
  
"What does he have to do exactly?" Lily asked.  
  
"Just watch," Megan said.  
  
James stopped near Snape. He cleared his throat and began, all the while looking ready to throw up at any minute.  
  
"My Dearest Snape," he began, and the hall fell silent, "Roses are red, violets are blue, do you love me? Because I love you. Your hair, though greasy it may be, reminds me of the deep dark sea. Your big schnoze is one of a kind, and I must ask you, does it have its own mind? Your eyes are black, black like the night, and dark as can be, that is how I know, that you must love me. You envy my charm and my nerdish good looks, but you can do nothing about it with your moldy old books. In short, let me say love you my dear, and won't you be mine, for the rest of the year?"  
  
Everyone stared in shock, then burst out laughing at the look on both boys' faces. Snape looked ready to kill James and James looked utterly humiliated. James turned, ran as fast as he could to the Gryffindor table and sat down, trying to hide behind Sirius and Peter. Remus was once again absent having been 'called away' that afternoon.  
  
"Awww," Lily said, as she and Megan walked over, "That was so cute! I never knew you wrote poetry James!"  
  
James glared at her, "Shut up," he snapped angrily.  
  
Still laughing, the two girls sat down and began eating. As they ate, Lily heard several students discussing the wizarding sport of Quidditch.  
  
"Hey Megan," Lily said, as she reached for the salt, "Why are so many people talking about Quidditch?"  
  
"It's 'cause next Saturday is the first inter-school Quidditch match of the season," Megan said, "We're playing Hufflepuff."  
  
"Sounds fun," Lily said, "What are our chances of winning?"  
  
"Pretty good actually," Megan said, as she piled more mashed potatoes on her plate, "Hufflepuff isn't a very strong team this year because their keeper graduated last year and their new one's not very good. The only player we have to watch out for on their team is their Seeker, Karen Brown, she's a pretty good flier."  
  
"I see," Lily said, "Could you maybe explain Quidditch to me though? I only have a rough idea of how it works."  
  
"Sure," Megan said with a shrug, "What do you need to know?"  
  
"Everything," said Lily.  
  
Megan laughed, "OK, let's start with the different balls and positions then," she said, "It's a seven player game with four balls that's played on broomsticks. There are three chasers, ours are Katie, Alice Griffin, Professor Griffin's niece, and Jessica Gunton. There's also a keeper, which is what Zack plays. Now the chasers and the keeper play with the red ball, which is called the Quaffle. The chasers try to throw the Quaffle through the opposing team's gold goal hoops at the end of the pitch. It's the keeper's job to block shots from making it through the goal hoops. Each time the Quaffle goes through the hoops, the scoring team receives 10 points. Understand it so far, or have I already lost you?"  
  
"No, I get it," Lily said, "Continue."  
  
"Alright then," Megan said, "There's also two beaters, ours are Orlando, who you've met-"  
  
"Yeah, he's one of the cute ones."  
  
"Yeah, and our other beater is Frank Longbottom. Now it's the beaters' job to try to keep the two black balls, called bludgers, that fly around trying to knock people off their brooms away from our team. Because of this, the beaters have small bats to whack the bludgers with. Are you still with me?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Good. Now the final position is seeker, which is what Alex plays. Now his job is to catch the final ball, a tiny golden ball that flies around and is really hard to find. This ball is called the golden snitch."  
  
"Why is it called a snitch?"  
  
"I have no idea-someone probably just thought the name up at random."  
  
"Ah."  
  
"Anywho, the game is not over until the snitch is caught and the seeker who catches the snitch earns their team and extra 150 points so their team almost always wins."  
  
"So a Quidditch game could last hours?"  
  
"Try days," Megan said, "There was one game that lasted almost a month. They had to keep subbing so the players could sleep."  
  
"Weird," said Lily, "You play seeker and beater right?"  
  
Megan nodded, "Yeah," she said, "I can play chaser and keeper too but I'm not as good at those positions."  
  
"Ah," said Lily, "I see."  
  
"But do you understand Quidditch now?" asked Megan.  
  
Lily nodded slowly, "Yeah," she said, "But it sure sounds confusing."  
  
"It is at first but once you get used to it you'll be fine," Megan said, "Plus, it's really exciting."  
  
"Well it sounds like it," said Lily.  
  
*************  
  
The next few days were a blur and the next thing Lily knew, it was Friday afternoon and classes were finished for the week. She and Megan hurried to the Room of Requirement to check their potion right after class.  
  
"It'll be ready any day now," Megan said as she stirred it.  
  
"We still need an alibi," Lily said, "And a way to get the boys to drink the sleeping potion."  
  
Megan thought a minute, "We could just hang back and say we'll catch up with everyone," she said, "And the sleeping potion's not a big deal, we'll just slip it to them right before everyone goes down to dinner."  
  
"So we'll just run out of the hall, duck down a random hallway, change back into ourselves then go back to the hall and pretend we don't know what's just happened?" said Lily.  
  
Megan nodded, "Yep," she said.  
  
Lily stared at her, "And you think that will actually work?"  
  
"Why not?" said Megan, "It's nice and simple if you think about it. Just as everyone goes looking for the boys, they'll be waking up in Gryffindor Tower. We can even say they're innocent because they were still asleep when we left to come to dinner if we feel like it."  
  
"Why would we?" said Lily.  
  
"So even they don't suspect us of causing all the trouble," said Megan.  
  
"Ah," said Lily, "I see. And you're sure this will work?"  
  
"Positive," said Megan, "How could it not?"  
  
*************  
  
The next morning dawned bright and clear, perfect for playing Quidditch. The only person other then than members of the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff Quidditch teams who seemed tired was Remus but he had been away again for a few days. He claimed his aunt was ill and he had gone to visit her but everyone suspected he was lying. However, only Megan and Lily seemed to know the truth about his strange absences.  
  
The Quidditch teams went down to the stadium earlier then the spectators to prepare for the match but soon afterwards, the students and teachers of Hogwarts followed them. Daniel Davidson, one of Katie and Zack's friends was providing a commentary of the match, closely watched by several teachers.  
  
"And what a beautiful day it is for a Quidditch match!" he said, his voice echoing through the stands, "Welcome to the first game of the season between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff!"  
  
There were cheers from the crowd and he continued. "And here come the Hufflepuffs!" he said, "Baldwin, Baxter, Brown, Diggory, Green, MacMillan and Turner!"  
  
There were loud cheers from the Hufflepuffs as seven yellow robed players zoomed onto the field on their brooms.  
  
"And now for the Gryffindors!" Daniel said, "Bloom, Griffin, Gunton, Johnston, Johnston, Johnston and Longbottom!"  
  
All the Gryffindors cheered as seven scarlet robed players zoomed onto the field to join the Hufflepuffs.  
  
"You'll notice that Katie Johnston has joined brothers Alex and Zack on the Gryffindor team this year," Daniel said, "The only Johnston sibling now missing is Megan, a first year Gryffindor here at Hogwarts and the youngest Johnston."  
  
Several people cheered and Lily grinned at Megan who grinned back.  
  
"As if you need any more publicity," Lily said and Megan laughed.  
  
The whistle blew and the game began. It was very fast paced and Lily was fascinated. The Gryffindors were soon way ahead, 60 points to none. Every so often, Megan would comment on plays, usually pointing out a mistake. Lily soon realized that Megan must be good at Quidditch because she seemed to know everything about it. Then again, maybe it was just that Lily still had trouble understanding the finer points of the game. However, Lily had to admit that Megan did have very sharp eyes; she spotted the snitch before either Seeker did, and it was all the way across the field.  
  
"Look!" she exclaimed as she pointed wildly across the field, "See the shiny thing over there?" The thing that's moving around a bit?"  
  
Lily squinted and could see the tiniest bit of movement, "Yeah." she said slowly.  
  
"That's the snitch!" said Megan, "If Alex doesn't get a move on, Hufflepuff will get it and could still win! And look! There goes their seeker now!"  
  
Sure enough, the Hufflepuff seeker had spotted it and was hurtling towards it. Luckily, Alex also spotted it and sped towards it as well.  
  
"And both seekers have spotted the snitch!" Daniel yelled.  
  
The spectators waited with much anticipation. The snitch sped off down the pitch, with both seekers in tow. A few tense seconds later, Alex reached out, and his hand closed over the snitch. He landed, his fist raised in triumphant, to cheers from the Gryffindors.  
  
"And Alex captures the snitch!" Daniel yelled over the noise, "220 points to 20 for Gryffindor!"  
  
As a result, there was a party in the Gyffindor Common Room that night, complete with music and lots of food. A large banner read "GRYFFINDOR RULES" in scarlet and gold lettering over the fireplace. There was so much chaos, that Lily didn't realize Megan had left until she saw her entering through the portrait hole.  
  
"Where'd you go?" Lily asked as she walked over to Megan.  
  
"Just wanted to check on the you-know-what," Megan replied.  
  
"Oh," Lily said, "And.?"  
  
Megan grinned, "It's ready," she said, "When do you want to do it?"  
  
Lily thought a minute, "How about Monday?" she said, "That way we don't ruin their weekend."  
  
"You're so generous Lily," Megan said, "How very thoughtful of you."  
  
"I know," said Lily.  
  
"OK then," Megan said, "Monday it is. Now let's party!"  
  
"Yeah!" yelled Lily and the two spent the rest of the evening having lots of fun with the other Gryffindors.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Yay! It's done! Whee!!! I'm working on chapter 19 right now and it'll be up soon, depends on how much I get done tonight and tomorrow. It probably won't be up until next week though but we'll see. For those who are wondering, yes I wrote the poem that James read to Snape, I was feeling inspired during French class the other day. I was quite proud of myself for actually writing a poem all by myself because my rhyming ability is quite lacking. Anywho, yeah, it was a bit of a fluff chapter but it had Quidditch in it so that was good, even if a lot of the chapter was pretty cliché. Well, guess that's all for now! Please review!!! Thanks!!!  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~  
  
P.S. If you like humorous stories that are really random, you might want to check out my other story. It's called "Harry Potter In A Messed Up Little World" and is really random. It's kind of disturbing too but my friends all think it's funny so you might too. Anywho, check it out if you want to but be warned, it's NOTHING like this story.  
  
P.P.S. Just wondering, do any of you think I should be a bit more creative with my chapter titles? I'm just wondering because I'm starting to feel like the chapter title gives away too much about the chapter-please review with your thoughts. 


	18. Double Trouble

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all associated characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.  
  
Hey everyone!!! Here's chapter 19! Hope you enjoy and please review!  
  
Chapter 18: Double Trouble  
  
Classes seemed to drag on and on for Lily on Monday. All she could think about was what she and Megan would be doing at dinner. As the day crawled along, she became more and more nervous. What is something went wrong? What if she was stuck looking like Sirius? What if they got caught? Would they be expelled? What would her parents say? What would she do if she wasn't allowed to learn magic anymore? How could she go back to living like a muggle after having experienced the wonders of magic? She couldn't understand how Megan could be so relaxed about the possible consequences; she acted like it was some sort of game. Then again, Megan was a very good actor so maybe she really was nervous about it. Lily noticed that Megan was even more hyper than usual during classes, as if she'd had way too much sugar. Perhaps she dealt with her stress by acting out.  
  
As Lily took notes during Transfiguration, the last class of the day, it took all of her will power to keep her mind from wondering. She realized Megan's hyper-ness was infectious because as the day progressed, James and Sirius also became more and more excitable. However, unlike Megan they also had no self-control and as a result, they were driving Professor McGonagall crazy with their antics. The two boys chased each other around the classroom until McGonagall had had it.  
  
"Enough!" she yelled, and the two boys stopped dead in their tracks, "Detention for both of you! Never in all my years have I seen two boys with so much disregard for the rules! Ten points from Gryffindor!"  
  
There were several groans from the class and the two miscreants received several dirty looks from their fellow Gryffindors. Between the two of them, they had now lost a total of 35 points for Gryffindor in one day.  
  
"You had best learn to control yourselves or you'll wind up with even more detentions!" Professor McGonagall said sternly.  
  
The bell rang, and the class hurriedly left, glad classes were finished for the day.  
  
James shook his head in disbelief, "Boy is she strict," he said, as the group headed down the hallway to the Gryffindor Tower.  
  
"Well you were being immature," Brittany said.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Dave, "She warned you like twenty times and you still didn't stop."  
  
"It's you own fault you have detention," said Lily, "You have to know when to draw the line."  
  
"Who are you guys?" said Sirius, "Are mothers?"  
  
"No, we just don't want to see Gryffindor lose the house cup because of your stupidity," Karen snapped.  
  
"We aren't that bad," said James, "So we lost a couple of points, big deal."  
  
"I'd say 35 points is more then 'a couple of points'," Remus said.  
  
"I know people who have lost more," said Sirius.  
  
"Like who?" said Megan, "Even I'm not crazy enough to try and play tag in McGonagall's class."  
  
"Well.Laroche took 25 points from Hufflepuff when Cass' potion blew up the potion's dungeon," said Sirius.  
  
"No he didn't," said Steve, "He only took ten, Cass told me about it during herbology on Thursday."  
  
"OK, so maybe we screwed up," said James.  
  
"There's the understatement of the year," Megan muttered.  
  
"Thank you little miss perfect," James said.  
  
"I am perfect aren't I?" Megan said, and everyone but James and Sirius laughed.  
  
"And you wonder why I pushed you off a cliff," Sirius said as he shook his head, "See that's why we pull pranks on you."  
  
"Yeah," said James, "You say we're arrogant and you're even worse then us. You're just a big.a big."  
  
"Hypocrite?" Megan offered as she smirked.  
  
The two boys looked at her, utterly baffled.  
  
"What does that mean?" asked James.  
  
"Why don't you go look it up in the library?" Megan said.  
  
"You'd like that wouldn't you?" Sirius said.  
  
"We have vowed that we will never, and I mean NEVER, set foot in that library again," said James.  
  
"You got kicked out didn't you?" said Megan.  
  
"No.yeah, we did," said Sirius.  
  
"For how long?" asked Lily.  
  
"Until after Christmas," said James, "Which really sucks because we won't be able to do a lot of our homework."  
  
"Well, you should've thought of that before you set off those dungbombs," said Shawn.  
  
"By the way, thanks to you, all the books on Quidditch now smell horrible," said Aaron.  
  
"Oops?" Sirius said.  
  
The others rolled their eyes.  
  
"It's a wonder you haven't cost us even more points," Kristin said as she shook her head.  
  
"Yeah," said Lily, "Especially with attitudes like that."  
  
"You know," James said, "We don't have to stick around here and take this abuse."  
  
"Yeah!" said Sirius, "That's right. Why don't we leave James?"  
  
"Maybe we will," said James, "We know when we're not wanted."  
  
"Oh shut up both of you," Megan said. She reached in her backpack and pulled out a bag of cookies. "Anybody want a snack? My mom sent them this morning."  
  
All ill thoughts vanished in an instant as she handed out the cookies. As she handed James and Sirius theirs, she winked at Lily.  
  
"These are really good!" exclaimed Carol.  
  
"Yeah," said Julie, "Your mom is such a good cook!"  
  
"I just can't believe you're sharing food," said Sirius.  
  
"Yeah," said James, "You never share food."  
  
Megan shrugged, "Well, guess I'm just feeling generous today," she said.  
  
Lily fought back a giggle. If the sleeping potion worked the way it was supposed to, the two boys would be passed out within half an hour and would stay asleep for about another two hours after that. They would wake just in time to receive detentions.  
  
A little while later, in the common room, the first years were busy at work on their homework. Well, some of them were. James and Sirius were playing wizard's chess and were being watched closely by Peter, Brittany was sketching a unicorn on a spare bit of parchment, and Megan was reading a book about Magical Creatures. Other than those five, everyone was doing homework.  
  
"Hey Megan," Carol said as she looked up from her potion's essay.  
  
Megan looked up from her book, "Yeah?"  
  
"What's another name for wolfsbane?" asked Carol.  
  
"Monkswood or aconite," Megan replied.  
  
"How do you know stuff like that?" Carol asked.  
  
Megan shrugged, "I read a lot," she replied.  
  
Carol stared at her, "You are so weird," she said, then returned to her work.  
  
A few minutes later, James and Sirius began yawning a lot.  
  
"I think I'm going to.to.to." James started to say, but he was interrupted by a yawn, and then continued, "Going to take a nap."  
  
"Me too," Sirius said.  
  
"Sweet dreams!" Megan called after them as they headed up to their room. Megan turned and grinned at Lily before returning to her book. Lily couldn't help but smile to herself as she bent over her astronomy homework; this was definitely going to be an interesting night.  
  
*************  
  
"Boy am I starving," said Brittany.  
  
"Well it is time for dinner," Julie said as she looked at her watch.  
  
Everyone but Megan got up.  
  
"You guys go ahead," Megan said, "I'll be down in a little bit-I just want to finish this chapter."  
  
"Now I'm curious," Karen said, "Since when do you turn down a chance for food?"  
  
"I'm not turning anything down," Megan said, "I'll be down in a few minutes, I just want to finish this chapter."  
  
"I'll wait with you Megan," Lily offered, "That way I can finish up my homework before dinner."  
  
"If you want to," Megan said.  
  
"I'm going to go get Sirius and James," Remus said as he headed towards the boys' dorms, "You guys can go on ahead if you like."  
  
"OK," said Dave, and the group turned to leave.  
  
"I'll wait for you Remus," squeaked Peter.  
  
The group climbed through the portrait hole, leaving Lily, Megan and Peter alone in the common room. All of the older students had also left for dinner.  
  
A few minutes later, Remus came down the stairs looking puzzled.  
  
"Guess they were really tired," he said.  
  
"Well that's weird," said Megan.  
  
"I'll say," said Remus, "Oh well, they can come down when they wake up I guess. Come on Peter. See you in a bit girls."  
  
"Bye," Megan and Lily said as the two boys also climbed through the portrait hole.  
  
They waited several minutes before also climbing through the portrait hole. They hurried down the hallway and ducked around the corner. Megan handed Lily a small vial which contained the Polyjuice potion.  
  
"Wait!" said Lily, "We need a piece of Sirius' hair!"  
  
"Don't worry!" said Megan, "I've got everything under control." She pulled out another vial which contained several long strands of black hair. She handed it to Lily. "Here," she said, "But before you change, put a piece of your hair in this potion." She produced another vial which also contained the Polyjuice potion.  
  
Lily pulled out a piece of her hair and put in into the vial which turned a copper colour. "Creepy," she whispered.  
  
Megan recapped the vial and placed it in her pocket.  
  
"Add Sirius' hair," she said, and then closed her eyes to concentrate.  
  
Lily dumped the hair into the other vial and it turned a strange blue-ish green colour. "It looks like algae," she said.  
  
"Just drink it," Megan said. There was a small 'pop' and her hair changed from dirty blonde to black.  
  
Lily pinched her noise and downed the potion, nearly gagging on the horrible taste. She closed her eyes as her stomach began to squirm. She could still hear small pops as Megan changed her appearance. Suddenly, it felt like a hundred million ants were crawling across her skin. She opened her eyes and looked down at her hand which seemed to be bubbling as its slender white fingers became more boyish in shape and took on a slightly darker skin tone. A few minutes later, the strange sensations ceased and she looked over at Megan, who was now the spitting image of James, complete with glasses.  
  
"Bloody hell," Megan whispered, her voice was now also identical to James.  
  
"Creepy," said Lily, but her voice still sounded the same, "Oh no! My voice!"  
  
"It's OK," Megan said as she pulled out her wand. She muttered something and tiny silver sparks shot out of her wand at Lily.  
  
"And what did that." Lily stopped speaking and stared at Megan in shock. Her voice now sounded very similar to Sirius'.  
  
"I'll change it back after," Megan said, "But now we need some different clothes." She muttered something and multi-coloured sparks shot out of her wand and encircled her. Her cloak was now tie-dyed every colour of the rainbow and she wore a floral print dress over a pair of plaid Capri pants. She also wore bright red sparkling shoes and a pair of tighty whities on the outside of her pants.  
  
"Oh very nice," Lily said.  
  
"And for you." Megan said, and the same multi-coloured sparks encircled Lily.  
  
She looked down at her new outfit which consisted of a superman cape, a tie- dyed speedo over top of her pants which were bright orange, and a shirt that was half plaid, half floral print. She wore converse high tops and her pants were tucked into a pair of zebra stripped knee socks.  
  
"That's some imagination you've got Megan," she said.  
  
Megan grinned and clicked her heels together, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home!" she chanted and Lily laughed. She then began singing, "I feel pretty, oh so pretty."  
  
And Lily joined in as well.  
  
"I feel pretty and witty and gay! And I pity, any girl who isn't me to day!"  
  
They skipped down the hallway laughing but were careful to avoid being seen. They soon reached the Great Hall.  
  
"OK, here goes!" Megan said, as the two pulled out their wands, "On the count of three. One.two.three!"  
  
The two burst through the door and into the hall. Everyone turned to stare at them, then burst out laughing.  
  
Megan and Lily grinned at each other then began shooting spells everywhere. The hall erupted into utter chaos. Lily began shouting random spells that came to mind, as did Megan. Several people ducked under the tables but some weren't fast enough, mainly the Slytherins. However, they soon turned their spells on the teachers. Before anyone could react to stop them, they ran out the doors of the hall as fast as they could (Megan ran surprisingly well in heels) and disappeared down a hallway.  
  
Megan handed Lily the Polyjuice potion, which she quickly drank. She felt the same sensation but was comforted by the fact that she was turning back into herself. With a few small pops, Megan also changed back into herself. She quickly waved her wand and their clothes returned to normal, as did Lily's voice.  
  
"I'm not even sure who got hit with what," Megan whispered, "Which is actually a good thing because then we can act genuinely surprised when we walk in."  
  
"They are going to be in so much trouble," whispered Lily.  
  
"I know," Megan whispered, "Isn't it great?"  
  
The rounded the corner and came face with a hoard of angry teachers and students.  
  
"Did you see Potter and Black?" demanded Professor Laroche.  
  
Megan and Lily shook their heads.  
  
"No," said Megan, "I think they're still asleep in their dorm. They were when we left anyway."  
  
"Are you sure?" said Professor McGonagall, "When did you leave to come down?"  
  
"A few minutes ago," said Lily, "Why?"  
  
"Well," said Professor McGonagall, "Unless James and Sirius have identical twins that we don't know about they were just in the Great Hall causing chaos."  
  
"How so?" Megan inquired.  
  
"They just started shooting random spells all over the hall," said Professor McGonagall, "Several students and a even a few teachers our on their way up to the Hospital Wing as we speak."  
  
"Weird," said Lily.  
  
"Well, I wouldn't put it past them to do something that stupid," Megan said.  
  
At that precise moment, the two boys in question rounded the corner, still looking rather sleepy.  
  
"Hello everybody!" Sirius said cheerfully, "What's going on?"  
  
Several people lunged at the two boys and managed to grab them.  
  
"Hey! What's going on?" James asked, clearly confused.  
  
"Yeah!" said Sirius, "Why are you attacking us?"  
  
"As if you didn't know," a sixth year Slytherin said as he rolled his eyes.  
  
"Actually, we don't know," said James.  
  
"A likely story," Laroche said, and Lily now understood why so many people feared him, "And I suppose it wasn't you who jinxed several students and teachers a few minutes ago."  
  
"What?" said Sirius, "We just left Gryffindor Tower to come down for dinner like five minutes ago."  
  
"Yeah," said James, "We've been asleep since about a quarter to four."  
  
"Sure you have," said Laroche, his lip curled into a slight sneer, "And I suppose you're being framed then aren't you?"  
  
"Probably," Sirius said, "I wouldn't put it past some people I know to try and set us up."  
  
"Is that right?" Laroche said, his eyebrows raised, "Would you care to name a few of these people?"  
  
"Uh." Sirius stammered.  
  
"Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy," said James, "And Snape, Severus Snape."  
  
"Really?" said Laroche, "Now would you like to know something interesting?"  
  
"What?" the two boys asked together.  
  
"Both of those boys are now in the hospital wing receiving treatment," said Laroche.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Yes, oh."  
  
"I think," Professor McGonagall cut in, "That perhaps detentions are in order, seeing as neither of you can prove that it was not you who caused chaos in the Great Hall. We shall discuss this in the Headmaster's office, come along."  
  
The group took James and Sirius down the hallway and disappeared around the corner, leaving Megan and Lily alone. They grinned at each other then hurried to the Great Hall as they both felt exceptionally hungry.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
OK, that wraps up chapter 19! Thanks go to my friend Jen once again for her continuing help and support. I hope all of you enjoyed and please review!!! I really appreciate your thoughts on my work as it helps me improve.  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	19. Don't Get Mad, Get Even!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. However, any characters, e.g. Megan, that are not from the original Harry Potter books are mine. The plot/idea is also mine.  
  
Hey everyone!!! Can you believe this is chapter 19? Wow! It seems like just yesterday I started writing this for my own enjoyment! Thanks again for all your support! I especially need to thank my friend Jen, who is still helping me post new chapters due to the fact that my computer is a piece of crap. I would also like to thank Hitomi Fanel who is constantly giving me positive reviews-I really appreciate it. To everyone else who has reviewed, thank you for your support and for being so positive-I have yet to get a negative review which makes me very happy! Well, enough rambling, here's chapter 19, enjoy and once again, please review!  
  
Chapter 19: Don't Get Mad-Get Even  
  
Following classes the next day, Lily and Megan once again headed to the Room of Requirement.  
  
"Why do we need to go back?" Lily asked as they passed the library, "I though you said hardly anyone knows the Room of Requirement even exists."  
  
"I did," Megan replied, "But some people do know about it and others might stumble across it by accident. Besides, better safe then sorry."  
  
They rounded the corner and came face to face with none other than James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. Luckily, they managed to duck back around the corner without the boys noticing.  
  
"See what I mean?" Megan whispered.  
  
"What are they doing here?" Lily asked in a low voice.  
  
Megan shrugged, "I don't know," she replied, "But maybe if we're quiet we'll find out."  
  
The two girls fell silent and listened intently.  
  
"But don't you think it's just a little weird that someone pretended to be us the day we just happened to take a nap?" James said.  
  
"Yeah," said Sirius, "It's not like we always take naps."  
  
"You think someone slipped you a sleeping potion?" Remus asked in disbelief.  
  
"All I'm saying is that it's a possibility," James said, "And Megan did give us cookies. I mean think about it, how often does she share food?"  
  
"Not to mention the fact that she and Lily still want revenge for what happened at Diagon Alley," Sirius added.  
  
"Then why did they defend you?" asked Remus.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Both Lily and Megan told everyone that when they left to go to dinner you two were still asleep in the dorms," Remus said.  
  
"Are you kidding me?" James said, "OK, it had to be them, Megan never defends us."  
  
"That's not true," Sirius said, "She's helped us get out of trouble a lot."  
  
"And if it was her, wouldn't she want you to get in trouble?" said Peter.  
  
"Exactly," Remus said.  
  
"Maybe she's playing mind games to confuse us," James said, "It's the kind of thing she'd do you know."  
  
"Told you mind games would work on them," Megan whispered and Lily stifled a giggle.  
  
"Well it's not that hard to confuse you now is it mate?" Sirius said with a slight smile, "I'm surprised you aren't obsessed with muggle sci-fi stuff, especially government conspiracy stuff."  
  
"Ah shut up," James said, "Hey Remus, you said they were late for dinner right?"  
  
"Yeah," Remus said slowly.  
  
"Why were they late?" James asked.  
  
"Megan said something about finishing a chapter in her book and Lily waited for her," Remus replied.  
  
"Now I'm really suspicious," James said, "First she gives us cookies and then she's late for dinner."  
  
"And she was really hyperactive all day," Peter said.  
  
"Which means she was nervous about something!" James said triumphantly, "It's all makes sense!"  
  
"Hey, um, Mr. Detective, when you come back down to earth, you may recall how much sugar she had at breakfast," Sirius said.  
  
"What does that have to do with anything?" James asked, looking puzzled.  
  
"Did you see how many pancakes she had yesterday?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Ah, I see," James said thoughtfully.  
  
Megan nudged Lily, "We should go," she whispered.  
  
The two girls headed back the way they'd come.  
  
"Do you think they'll figure out it was us?" Lily asked.  
  
Megan shrugged, "I dunno, probably," she replied, "They're smarter than you think."  
  
Lily sighed as they passed the library. Part of her was glad the boys didn't know she and Megan were behind the little stunt, but at the same time she kind of wished she could take credit for it, just to rub their noses in it. She'd never really been one to break a lot of rules. Sure she'd been a tomboy but for the most part she'd also been a good student who did her homework and didn't cause trouble.  
  
Several people were still in the hospital wing nursing injuries. Snape had emerged at breakfast with his eyebrows missing and a black eye but Malfoy remained bedridden. The rumour was that he was belching slugs and had a terrible wart on his nose. Professor Griffin was still quite shaken up, but was almost back to normal-she now only had a pig nose and tail. Quite a few students were reportedly suffering from terrible acne, warts and boils and, as a result, were still hiding in the infirmary. Professor Sprout's hair had been turned into grass, making her look like a human chia- pet, but even she thought it was ironic. She was proudly sporting her new do, much to the delight of her students. However, some students had not been accounted for. For starters, no one had heard from or seen Jennifer and Bellatrix at all. Several people suspected that the two must have been taken to St. Mungo's for treatment. There were rumours that Jennifer had been turned into a mouse, and Bellatrix had been turned into a beetle-in other words, animals both girls detested. Simon, Crabbe and Goyle were also missing but according to what Lily had overheard during potions, the three would be returning to classes as soon as they were found. It sounded like they'd disappeared into thin air, but Lily thought that maybe Megan had simply used a banishing charm on them. The only question was where had she banished them too? Lily decided the three were most likely up in the rafters somewhere and wasn't too concerned.  
  
Upon returning to the Common Room, Megan and Lily took out their homework and began working. Soon afterwards, the four boys, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter, also arrived. James immediately stormed over, followed closely by the other three who seemed to think he was out of his mind.  
  
James took a deep breath, "OK," he said, "Did you, or did you not put a sleeping potion in those cookies so you could turn into me and Sirius?"  
  
Lily bit her lip and looked at Megan, who rolled her eyes at the question.  
  
"That is the most ludicrous thing-" Megan started.  
  
"Oo, big word!" James taunted.  
  
"-I have ever heard," Megan continued, "If we put a sleeping potion in those cookies wouldn't everyone else have fallen asleep too? Including us?"  
  
"Uh." James stuttered.  
  
"And why on earth would we want to turn into you two anyway?" Megan asked as she stood up, hands on her hips.  
  
"I don't know!" James said, "Maybe it was part of your revenge because you wanted to get us into trouble!"  
  
"OK, um, think of it this way," Megan said, "We're girls and you're guys. Now why would two girls want to turn into guys?"  
  
The boys stared at each other open mouthed as they realized what she meant.  
  
"Ew!" they said together.  
  
"Don't ask me!" James said, "But you're already pretty twisted so maybe you wouldn't mind doing something like that!"  
  
Megan rolled her eyes again but Lily fidgeted in her seat, something James noticed.  
  
"Ah ha!" he exclaimed triumphantly, "Lily's fidgeting which means she's nervous, which means it was you! You've been lying this whole time!"  
  
"How is my asking questions lying?" asked Megan.  
  
"Quit doing that!" James said angrily.  
  
"Doing what?"  
  
"Avoiding the question!"  
  
"What are you talking about? I'm not avoiding anything."  
  
"Are too!"  
  
"Are not!"  
  
"Are too!"  
  
"Are not!"  
  
"You're fighting a loosing battle here mate," Sirius cut in, he was smiling slightly.  
  
"I am not!" James snapped.  
  
"Are too!" Sirius and Megan said together.  
  
"Even if it was them, do you really think they'd admit it?" Remus said, "You're just wasting your breath."  
  
"See James?" Megan said, "Remus and Sirius get it."  
  
"Why does everyone keep ganging up on me lately?" James demanded.  
  
"Because it's you and it's funny?" Sirius offered.  
  
Lily giggled, "Guess you're not as popular as you thought," she smirked.  
  
James gave her a dirty look, "What would you know about be popular?" he snapped.  
  
Lily stood up, eyes blazing, "I know plenty James Potter!" she said hotly, "For your information I was class President at my old school two years in a row and everyone knows school elections are popularity votes."  
  
"Oh yeah?" James said, "And I suppose the teachers can't make whoever they want Prez?"  
  
"As if they'd bother," Lily said as she rolled her eyes, "Besides, they would've picked Janice Peabody because she's every teachers pet."  
  
"Oh don't lie Lily," James said, "We all know you're a teacher's pet too."  
  
Lily smacked him with her book, "Why don't you get a life!" she yelled at him, before storming upstairs to her room.  
  
She jumped on her bed and lay there, staring up at the ceiling. There was something about James Potter that infuriated her so much, although she had to admit sometimes he wasn't half bad. However, most of the time.  
  
"Lily?" Megan called as she entered.  
  
Lily said nothing but rolled over so her back was to Megan. Megan was really nice and all but she was friends with James. However, Megan wasn't one to give up.  
  
"You know," Megan said thoughtfully as she walked over, "You shouldn't get mad."  
  
Lily snorted and rolled her eyes but Megan wasn't finished.  
  
"You should get even," Megan said.  
  
Lily rolled over to face Megan and grinned.  
  
"What exactly did you have in mind?" she asked.  
  
*************  
  
So that's the end of that. Sorry it was a bunch of fluff but I needed to set some stuff up for later chapters. (Hint, hint, hint!) I don't know if I'll have time to write any new chapters for a while because I have my school play performances and volleyball try-outs all this week. Anywho, guess that's about it! Please review because it makes me feel special!!!  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	20. Karoake Night

Disclaimer: Harry Potter doesn't belong to me but is the property of J.K. Rowling.  
  
Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated for a while but I had a bit of trouble writing this chapter because . . . . . . . . . well, you'll see. But now I'll probably be writing a lot more because I finished off my school play and unfortunately I didn't make the volleyball team. For a full report on that read my other story, "Harry Potter in a Messed Up Little World" because I took some of my anger and frustration out on 'fictional characters'. I'm still a little mad about not making the team, mostly because they only took ten people, honestly who takes ten people for a volleyball team, so that kind of affected my writing. However, that being said, I'm back to normal, well, normal for me anyway, and the upside is I'll have more time to write. And on that note, I hope you enjoy!  
  
Hitomi Fanel: I know how much you like Sirius so you may want to read my new story, "Shadow of Doubt" which should be up soon because it's a one shot about Sirius. And are you almost done that picture of James yet?  
  
Jen: Thank you for everything! I really appreciate it!!!  
  
Chapter 20: Karaoke Night  
  
Lily could hardly believe she'd already been at Hogwarts for almost three whole months. She'd already learned a lot about magic, especially about how it improved pranks. Time had just flown by and soon, on November 26th, she would be eleven and she could hardly wait. However, she was also a bit sad because it would be her first birthday away from her family. Truth be told she was a little relieved she wouldn't have to put up with Petunia but she did miss her parents.  
  
One day, she was feeling rather nostalgic and was flipping through one of her photo albums when Megan came into their room.  
  
"Whatcha doing?" Megan asked as she put away her schoolbooks.  
  
"Just looking at pictures," Lily replied, as she looked up, "Want to see?"  
  
"Sure," Megan said as she sat down.  
  
Lily handed her the album, "That's Petunia," she said as she pointed out her sister.  
  
Megan wrinkled her nose, "Is she sucking on a lemon or something?" she asked.  
  
Lily giggled, "No," she replied, "She's just naturally sour."  
  
"And with a face like that it's no wonder," Megan commented as she turned the page.  
  
"Did those pictures you took of James turn out?" Lily asked.  
  
Megan nodded, "Yep," she said, as she casually pointed at her bedside table. The drawer opened and out soared a rather large photo album. She caught it and flipped through the pages. "Here," she said as she handed the open album to Lily.  
  
Lily gasped as she noticed that Megan's pictures moved, just like the paintings around Hogwarts.  
  
"Do they talk too?" she asked.  
  
"No," Megan said with a laugh, "To get them to talk would take a different potion.  
  
Lily flipped through Megan's album. Mixed in with the wizarding photos were a few muggle ones. There were lots of sports pictures, mostly Quiddicth, both professional and ones of Megan and her friends and family, and football. (A/N: Soccer for all you North Americans.) There were also a few pictures that showed Megan playing basketball, volleyball, skating and skiing. There were lots of pictures of family and friends. There was a picture of Megan on her 9th birthday were she was sandwiched between James and Sirius. The three were waving and smiling broadly. Another picture that caught Lily's eye was one of Megan with Alex, Katie and Zack on a ski trip. Underneath it, Megan had written "Ski Trip to Whistler, British Columbia, Canada". She flipped through a few more pages and found a photo labeled "Family Reunion" and then she had listed the names of all those pictured. Seated next to Megan was none other then . . . . . .  
  
"You're related to James?" Lily exclaimed, unable to believe her eyes.  
  
Megan looked up, "Yeah, by marriage on my dad's side," she said, "Pretty much every old wizarding family is related somehow."  
  
"Are you related to Sirius too?" asked Lily.  
  
Megan shook her head, "Nope," she said, "Well, no wait, James is related to him through marriage on his mother's side so I guess am, but distantly. It's complicated. We're not blood related but I guess technically we are related somehow."  
  
"Weird," Lily commented.  
  
"Yeah," Megan agreed, "Hey, isn't your birthday soon?"  
  
Lily nodded, "Yep," she replied, "The 26th."  
  
"Guess I'd better wrap your present then," Megan said with a grin.  
  
*************  
  
The following night at dinner, Lily noticed James was beginning to regain some of his former arrogance. Lily assumed it was because soon Megan would no longer be able to order him around. However, Megan wasn't about to let him off the hook that easily.  
  
"Hey girls," Megan said in a low voice, "Why don't we mix up a special drink for Mr. Potter?"  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Julie.  
  
Megan grinned, "We mix together a few things to make a customized drink," she replied.  
  
"Count me in!" Lily said with a grin and the other girls nodded in agreement.  
  
Grinning, the girls immediately got to work. Lily downed the rest of her juice and they used her empty goblet for mixing. They mixed ketchup, mustard, relish and mayonnaise in with the remaining drops of juice. Next they added Tabasco sauce, salsa, garlic, salt, pepper, sugar and a few drops of honey. Lily chopped up some olives, pickles, cheese and onion and tossed them into the mix as well. Karen added bit of lemon juice and gravy, while Megan added some sour cream, cottage cheese and paprika. Brittany helped by adding some applesauce and cinnamon while Carol dropped her parsley and some salad dressing into the concoction. Kristin grabbed the bottle of vinegar and poured a generous amount in and, after lots of convincing, Julie added chocolate pudding, strawberry jam and peanut butter. Erin preferred to watch from afar, rather then get involved. That is until she decided the potion needed some pasta sauce and some vegetables.  
  
"It's times like these I wish I had a portable spice rack," Megan said thoughtfully as she grinned, "Oh wait, I do." She pulled out her wand and, with a small flick, a small spice rack appeared next to her. She proceeded to add a little bit of everything to the mixture.  
  
Lily picked up the butter dish and scrapped off a generous amount, which landed in the goblet. "I hope he doesn't get too sick," she said, "Because then he'd get to miss class."  
  
The girls laughed and finished off their disgusting creation.  
  
"Oh James," Megan called and he looked up, as did the other boys.  
  
"Yeah?" he said a little apprehensively, he seemed to recognize Megan's tone of voice.  
  
"We made something just for you," Lily said with a grin.  
  
"What kind of something?" James asked, eyebrows raised.  
  
"A special kind of something," Karen replied.  
  
"Why is it special?" James asked.  
  
"Because," said Carol.  
  
"Because why?" asked James.  
  
"You won't have ever had anything like it before," Brittany said.  
  
Now James looked concerned, "You know what?" he said, "I'm pretty full so I don't really feel like eating anymore...."  
  
"I thought you might say that," Megan said, "You do remember out wager don't you?"  
  
"Unfortunately yes," James said.  
  
"Yeah, about that, you don't have a choice, you're going to drink this," said Megan.  
  
"I hate you."  
  
"That's nice, now drink up!" Megan said as she slid the drink down to James.  
  
"You are so totally whipped!" Sirius smirked.  
  
"Am not!" James said, "And it's your fault! It was your stupid idea to have the bet in the first place."  
  
"It's not my fault you lost mate," Sirius said with a shrug.  
  
James gave him a dirty look. He picked up the goblet looking faintly sick.  
  
"Oh and if you spill it, the next one will be even worse," Megan warned.  
  
James swallowed hard. His face had turned a delicate shade of green. "Well," he said, "Bottoms up!" He pinched his nose and downed the entire thing. He slammed the goblet down and covered his mouth to keep from throwing up as he retched violently. He grabbed a glass of water and quickly drank it, clearly hoping to get rid of the horrible taste.  
  
"Mashed potatoes work the best," Remus said knowingly.  
  
"Thanks for the tip," James said and he began to shovel mashed potatoes into his mouth.  
  
The girls were laughing hysterically and soon the other boys were too.  
  
"Yeah, you may be laughing now but you won't be when I get you back," Lily heard James mutter.  
  
*************  
  
The next few days seemed to crawl by so slowly Lily began to grow anxious about her birthday. The night before it, she could hardly sleep. She kept wondering how her parents would send her presents, after all, unlike the wizarding families they didn't have an owl and they certainly couldn't use muggle post.  
  
The next morning, Lily awoke very early. She dressed quickly and headed downstairs to the common room. She settled into a chair by the fire to wait for the others to wake up. Soon, some of the older students came downstairs and headed down to breakfast. When Alex came down he smiled at her.  
  
"Happy Birthday," he said as he walked over.  
  
Lily couldn't help but grin, "Thanks!" she said.  
  
"I got you a little something," Alex said, as he held out a box wrapped in red and gold paper. "It's something I thought you might enjoy."  
  
"Gee, thanks!" Lily said, as she took the package, "That's really nice of you."  
  
"I also got you this," Alex said, as he handed her a red and gold drawstring bag.  
  
Lily opened the bag and grinned, "Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans!" she exclaimed, "Thanks!"  
  
Alex grinned, "You're welcome," he said.  
  
Lily then unwrapped the box. She opened it and found a little model unicorn that pranced around in the palm of her hand. "Oh wow!" she exclaimed as she set the unicorn down on the table, "It's gorgeous! Thanks Alex!" She stood up and gave him a big hug.  
  
"You're welcome," Alex said, "I saw it when I went to Hogsmeade a few weeks ago and I thought you might like it."  
  
"I love it!" Lily said as she grinned.  
  
"Well good," Alex said as he smiled down at her.  
  
"Morning Alex," called a 6th year girl Lily didn't know.  
  
"Morning Libby," Alex said as the girl came over, "Lily I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Libby. Libby, this is Megan's friend Lily."  
  
"Oh I know that," Libby said, "Having a good birthday Lily?"  
  
Lily was a little taken aback, "How'd you know it was my birthday?" she asked.  
  
"Megan told me last night," Libby replied.  
  
"Oh," Lily said, "Well, yes I am, thanks!"  
  
Libby smiled, "Well, it's not every day you turn eleven," she said, "Hope it's a good one."  
  
"Thanks!" Lily said.  
  
"Well Alex," Libby said, "We'd better hurry, especially since we have to talk to Professor McGonagall."  
  
"Oh, right," Alex said, "Bye Lily!"  
  
"Bye! And thanks again!" Lily said as the two left.  
  
As Lily settled back in her chair she was ambushed by her fellow first year girls.  
  
"Happy Birthday!" they shouted at the top of their lungs, laughing as they piled on top of her.  
  
Lily couldn't help laughing, "Thanks!" she said.  
  
Soon several presents were being thrust under her nose to the cries of "Open mine first!" from her friends. So she opened her presents. From Julie, she received a beautiful new eagle feather quill. From Brittany, she received a drawing Brittany had drawn herself (Brittany was an amazing artist) of the Gryffindor lion and a box of chocolate frogs. From Karen, she received a diary with an array of mythical creatures on the cover. From Carol, she received a stuffed monkey that was absolutely adorable. From Kristin, she received a large array of muggle and wizarding candy.  
  
"Megan helped me get it," Kristin explained as she pointed at the wizarding candies.  
  
From Erin, she received a snow globe that had fairies in it. Finally, it was Megan's turn. Smiling, she handed over the present to Lily. Lily unwrapped it and found even more candy and a huge scrapbook. On the front was a picture of her and Megan waving up at her from the train station on the day they left to come to Hogwarts.  
  
"Open it," Megan urged.  
  
Lily opened the book and on the first page found a picture of James wearing the dress. He tried to dart out of the picture but the photographic Sirius pulled him back. Lily couldn't help laughing at James face. There were even more pictures. Pictures from Halloween, pictures from the first Quidditch game, pictures of everything.  
  
"These pictures are amazing!" Lily exclaimed.  
  
Megan grinned, "My favourite is the one of James," she said and they all laughed.  
  
"Thanks everybody!" Lily exclaimed, "I love everything!"  
  
They group headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. They had just sat down when the post arrived. Two owls flew over to Lily, each carrying a package.  
  
"That one's from my parents," Megan said as she pointed at the larger owl, a large brown one, "That's Artemis."  
  
Lily opened the present from Megan's parents. It contained a scarf, sweater and mitten set that was scarlet and gold like the Gryffindor colours. There were also several homemade cookies.  
  
"Your parents are so nice!" Lily exclaimed.  
  
"My mom probably knitted those herself," Megan said, "And I know she baked those cookies."  
  
"That was really nice of her," Lily said. She opened the package from her parents. Inside were several cards from not only her parents but also her aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. Instead of lots of presents there was instead money with instructions to buy "whatever her heart desired" for her birthday. She opened the one from her parents last. Inside a small box was a gold heart-shaped locket.  
  
"Wow," said Carol, "You're so lucky!" The other girls nodded in agreement.  
  
Lily opened the card and read it in silence, smiling to herself. At the very end there was a small little note that read, "P.S. The owl is for you, pick out a nice name for him!"  
  
"Oh my god!" she squealed, "I get to keep the owl!"  
  
"No way!" said Megan.  
  
"Now I have to think of a good name for him," Lily said thoughtfully.  
  
The rest of the day just flew by for Lily. James and Sirius had tried to give her birthday beats but with a little help from her wand, she was able to outsmart them. All in all she couldn't have asked for a better birthday. She had decided to name her new owl Aesop and was very happy to have him. Now she wouldn't have to use the school owls to send letters. As she drifted off to sleep she felt extremely happy.  
  
*************  
  
The weekend rolled around again and Lily knew it would be eventful. After Saturday night, Megan would no longer be able to boss James around so everyone knew something big would happen. Megan of course wasn't about to ruin the surprise and kept everyone guessing. She even left dinner early to go get ready. When the Gryffindors arrived back at the common room streamers, banners and even more food greeted them.  
  
"Welcome to the Gryffindor Karaoke night!" Megan said with a big grin, "Our first act will be none other then James Potter singing "I Will Survive" by Diana Ross! Everybody give James a round of applause!"  
  
Everyone cheered and applauded. Sirius pushed a very panicked looking James forward.  
  
"Yeah!" Sirius yelled, "You go James!"  
  
Megan grabbed James and dragged him over to the karaoke machine. However, Lily couldn't understand how it would work, electrical muggle gadgets didn't work inside Hogwarts. However, Megan pointed her wand at the machine and it turned on, all it's lights flashing like crazy. Soon the first few notes of the song came out and James began to sing;  
  
"At first I was afraid, I was petrified, Kept thinkin' I could never live without you by my side, Then I spent so many nights just thinking how you did me wrong, And I grew strong, And I learned how to get along!  
  
And so you're back from outer space, I just walked in to find you here, with that sad look upon your face, I should have changed that stupid lock, I should have made you leave your key, If I had known for just one second you'd be back to bother me!  
  
Go on now go, walk out the door! Just turn around now, 'Coz you're not welcome anymore! Weren't you the one who tried to break me with goodbyes? Did you think I'd crumble? Did you think I'd lay down and die? Oh no not I, I will survive! For as long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive, I've got all my life to live And I've got all my love to give, I'll survive I will survive Hey hey!  
  
I, I will survive! Hey hey! I, I will survive! Every day I, I will survive! Oh yeah!  
  
It took all the strength I had not to fall apart, Just trying hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart. And I spent oh so many nights just feeling sorry for myself, I used to cry, but now I hold my head up high! And you see me, somebody new, I'm not that chained up little person still in love with you! And so you felt like dropping in and just expect me to be free, But now I'm savin' all my lovin' for someone who's lovin' me!  
  
Go on now, go walk out the door! Just turn around now, You're not welcome anymore! Weren't you the one who tried to break me with goodbyes? Did you think I'd crumble? Did you think I'd lay down and die? Oh no not I, I will survive! Oh as long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive, I've got all my life to live, And I've got all my love to give! I'll survive! I will survive! Hey hey!  
  
Go now, go walk out the door! Just turn around now, 'Coz you're not welcome anymore! Weren't you the one who tried to break me with goodbye? Did you think I'd crumble? Did you think I'd lay down and die? Oh no not I, I will survive! Oh as long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive! I've got all my life to live, And I've got all my love to give, I'll survive! I will survive! I will survive!"  
  
The Gryffindors cheered and applauded James' singing. Lily had to admit, the guy did have a pretty decent voice. He had even begun to get into the song a little bit and was hamming it up for the crowd. As he stepped down, several others rushed forward to take his place and immediately began singing "YMCA" by the Village People. After all, what Karaoke is complete without doing the YMCA?  
  
Megan and Lily started dancing and singing along.  
  
"Hey Lily!" Megan said.  
  
"Yeah?" Lily yelled over the noise.  
  
"Why don't we sing a song?" Megan said.  
  
"What song?" asked Lily.  
  
Megan thought a minute, "How about "Mickey"?" she asked.  
  
"OK!" Lily said.  
  
When the Gryffindor Village People left the stage the two girls ran up and grabbed the mike. Megan pushed the buttons and soon the familiar tune was blasting out and they sang;  
  
"Oh Mickey, you're so fine, You're so fine, you blow my mind! Hey Mickey! Hey Mickey! Oh Mickey, you're so fine, You're so fine, you blow my mind! Hey Mickey! Hey Mickey! Oh Mickey, you're so fine, You're so fine, you blow my mind! Hey Mickey! Hey Mickey!  
  
You've been around all night and that's a little long, You think you've got the right, but I think you've got it wrong. Why can't we say goodnight? So you can take me home, Mickey, Cause when you say you will, it always means you won't, You're givin' me the chills, baby, please baby don't! Every night you still leave me all alone, Mickey.  
  
Oh Mickey, what a pity, you don't understand, You take me by the heart when you take me by the hand! Oh Mickey, you're so pretty, can't you understand, It's guys like you, Mickey, Ooh what you do Mickey, do Mickey, Don't break my heart, Mickey, Hey Mickey!  
  
(A/N: Originally there was another verse here but I don't feel it's appropriate and have therefore erased it.)  
  
Oh Mickey, what a pity, you don't understand, You take me by the heart when you take me by the hand! Oh Mickey, you're so pretty, can't you understand? It's guys like you, Mickey, Ooh what you do Mickey, do Mickey! Don't break my heart, Mickey!  
  
Oh Mickey, you're so fine You're so fine, you blow my mind! Hey Mickey! Hey Mickey! Oh Mickey, you're so fine, You're so fine, you blow my mind! Hey Mickey! Hey Mickey! Oh Mickey, you're so fine, You're so fine, you blow my mind! Hey Mickey! Hey Mickey!  
  
Oh Mickey, what a pity, you don't understand, You take me by the heart when you take me by the hand. Oh Mickey, you're so pretty, can't you understand? It's guys like you, Mickey, Ooh what you do Mickey, do Mickey Don't break my heart, Mickey!  
  
Oh Mickey, what a pity, you don't understand, You take me by the heart when you take me by the hand. Oh Mickey, you're so pretty, can't you understand? It's guys like you, Mickey, Ooh what you do Mickey, do Mickey Don't break my heart, Mickey!  
  
Oh Mickey, what a pity, you don't understand, You take me by the heart when you take me by the hand. Oh Mickey, you're so pretty, can't you understand? It's guys like you, Mickey, Ooh what you do Mickey, do Mickey Don't break my heart, Mickey!"  
  
They left the stage to cheers and applause.  
  
"I didn't know you could sing like that Megan!" Lily exclaimed.  
  
"I'm not that good," Megan said.  
  
"You're joking right?" Lily said, "That was amazing!"  
  
"That was karaoke," Megan pointed out, "Now, enough talk, let's party!"  
  
She disappeared into the crowd and Lily followed her. She couldn't help laughing, Megan was definitely one of a kind.  
  
All of the Gryffindors spent the rest of the night partying like there was no tomorrow and basically just having a blast. They only stopped when Professor McGonagall came in and said that if the didn't they'd all have detention.  
  
As Lily curled up under her warm covers, she couldn't help smiling. It was times like these that made her incredibly happy to be at Hogwarts.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
OK, so that's it for now. I'll try and finish the next few chapters really really soon, I promise! Anywho, as always, please read and review! Thanks!  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	21. Free at Last

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all other associated characters do not belong to me but rather to J.K. Rowling.  
  
Hey everybody! I am so sorry about not updating in like forever! I've had so much going on so I haven't been writing and Jen's been busy so she hasn't had time to update for me. You can all be mad at me but you cannot be mad at Jen because she's doing me a HUGE favour by posting this for me. Hopefully soon I'll have a new computer and will be able to do it myself without the extra step of sending my stuff to Jen but until then such is life and it's better then not being able to post at all! Anywho, here's chapter 21 so enjoy!  
  
P.S. Some of you may have noticed that I had to do a bit of a revamp to this lovely story because of the new rules/regulations about Author's Notes as chapters. A big HUGE thanks goes out to Jen who fixed everything for me!!! Jen, you rox my sox!  
  
P.P.S. Thoughts that should be in italics are in * * because I don't know how to do italics or bolding on fanfiction. However, if you do, please tell me when you review, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!  
  
Chapter 21: Free At Last  
  
Needless to say that after the successful Gryffindor Karaoke Night all those involved were extremely tired. If that hadn't been enough entertainment, the following day, the school found out that there was going to be a talent show the last day of term before Holidays. However, other then that, the first day of December seemed rather dull in comparison with the excitement of the previous night. At least, it was until about mid- afternoon when the boys grew too rowdy.  
  
"Will you shut up?" Karen yelled after a particularly noisy outburst from the boys.  
  
Lily stifled a giggle at the boys' expression; after all Karen was a bit scary when she was mad. Lily looked back down at her work and tried to concentrate despite the ruckus. Obviously this was easier said then done.  
  
There was a loud shout as a small firework exploded into a burst of golden stars. Lily looked up and rolled her eyes as she closed her book, deciding she wasn't going to get anymore work done with the boys around having learned from experience.  
  
Karen groaned in frustration as she snapped her book shut. She got up, walked over to the boys and gave each of them a smack with said book before returning to her seat. This was greeted by several moans of "Ow!" and "What was that for?" to which Karen replied, "For being annoying!"  
  
Sirius rubbed his arm and grinned impishly at her, "Don't worry," he said, "I know you still love me."  
  
Karen just rolled her eyes and flopped back down in her chair. She had apparently decided not to waste her time.  
  
Lily got up and walked over to where James was playing chess with Peter. Apparently James hadn't felt the need to explain the game to Peter and was winning by quite a lot.  
  
Lily watched in silence for a few minutes but when James went to move his rook she snorted.  
  
James looked at her, eyebrows raised in surprised, "And what was that Evans?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing," she replied, "I just noticed something that you obviously didn't, that's all."  
  
"You think you can play chess?" James asked doubtfully.  
  
"I don't think," Lily said, "I know."  
  
"Really?" James said, he had already regained all of the arrogance he had lost while being controlled by Megan, "Well I'll have you know that I am the chess master and I have mastered the game of chess as no one else can."  
  
Lily gave him a look and she felt the sudden urge to smack him. "I'm so sure," she said as she folded her arms in front of her, she was thoroughly unimpressed by James' claims.  
  
"Well, let me just finish Peter off here and I'll play you," James said.  
  
"Fine," said Lily.  
  
It didn't take long, it was almost as if Peter wanted to loose. When the game was finished, he hurried away saying he had some homework to finish.  
  
"Ready to be beaten?" James asked as Lily took her seat.  
  
"I was about to ask you the same question," Lily replied.  
  
"You may be able to talk the talk," James said as he went first, as white always does, "But can you walk the walk?"  
  
Lily thought a minute before moving one of her pawns. "Oh, don't worry," she said, "I can definitely walk the walk, Potter."  
  
"We'll see about that Evans," James said with a faint smirk. He obviously thought that the game was in the bag.  
  
"You know Potter," Lily said slowly, "You shouldn't count your chickens before they're hatched, one of them may just get scrambled."  
  
"Tough talk," James said as he moved another pawn, "For a girl."  
  
"You do realize that it has been proven that girl's are often more intelligent then boys are," Lily said as she moved one of her knights.  
  
"There's a logical explanation for that."  
  
"Oh yeah? What?"  
  
"Women did the tests."  
  
Lily rolled her eyes, she couldn't believe and 11 year old boy could be so sexist. However, she held her tongue as she moved one of her castles, she would prove James wrong instead of just contradicting him.  
  
"Go Potter," she said.  
  
"With pleasure," James responded. He moved his queen out onto the board. Big mistake.  
  
Lily couldn't believe how reckless he was. She moved one of her pawns and, much to James' surprise, captured his queen.  
  
"How'd you do that?" he demanded.  
  
Lily grinned, "I told my pawn to move to that square," she said.  
  
"You cheated!"  
  
"You can't cheat at wizard's chess James! All you do is direct the pieces and you've bee watching the board the whole time!"  
  
James pouted like a little child for a few minutes, "I still say you cheated," was his only response.  
  
Lily rolled her eyes. *What an idiot,* she thought to herself.  
  
As the game continued Lily clearly dominated the field. Shortly after capturing James' queen she had also captured both of his knights, one of his bishops, several pawns and a castle.  
  
"Are you sure you're a chess master?" she asked.  
  
"I still say you cheat," James said.  
  
Lily rolled her eyes as he moved his remaining bishop. She couldn't believe it, he'd just made it possible for her to checkmate him. She moved her own bishop into position and said, "Checkmate."  
  
"What?!" James exclaimed, "Are you kidding me?" But his king had already tossed its crown at the feet of Lily's king.  
  
"Guess I win Potter and you loose," Lily said as she stood up. That's when she noticed that the others had been watching. The girls congratulated her and laughed at James' expression.  
  
"Better luck next time Potter," Megan said.  
  
"I demand a rematch!" James declared.  
  
"But it's dinner!" Sirius said, "You guys can play later, I'm hungry!"  
  
James gave him a dirty look but went down with the other boys for dinner.  
  
"That was awesome Lily!" said Kristin, "I didn't know you could play chess like that!"  
  
"Oh, well, I learned from a real chess master," said Lily, "And my family really likes to play chess too."  
  
"Did you see James when he lost?" Brittany said with a grin, "He looked ready to scream."  
  
"I demand a rematch!" Megan said shrilly in imitation of James, then in a normal voice said, "What an idiot, I wish I knew what was going through his head when he moved that bishop."  
  
"I think we know what was going through his head," said Karen.  
  
"What?" asked the other girls.  
  
"Nothing!" Karen replied and the girls giggled.  
  
"I feel a little bad for him though," Julie said, "After all it was his first day free since September and he got beat pretty badly at chess."  
  
"Oh please," said Megan, "As soon as those boys start pulling pranks and stuff you'll be glad for the pain and suffering we manage to inflict upon them."  
  
"You're probably right," Julie said, "Now that James is able to be himself again without fear of too many consequences, he and Sirius will definitely want to celebrate."  
  
The girls entered the Great Hall and soon food had appeared on their plates. They had just started eating when Sirius and James stood up on the table and everyone in the hall fell silent. Lily was sure that they expected them to do something like sing a song or something else embarrassing but instead they yelled, "Food fight!" at the top of their lungs and started flinging food around.  
  
It wasn't long before the entire school had joined into the fray. Lily picked up a big bowl of mashed potatoes and flung its contents at the two troublemakers. The mashed potatoes hit James square in the face but Sirius managed to avoid them. However, Megan hit him with a bowl of noodles so Lily didn't care too much.  
  
It took several purple firecrackers exploding from Dumbledore's wand for the students to stop. However, Lily couldn't help but notice his eyes were twinkling and she could've sworn she'd seen him throw a bit of food himself.  
  
"Sirius Black and James Potter," Dumbledore said sternly, "A word if you please."  
  
The two troublemakers just grinned in reply before walking up to the high table.  
  
"As for the rest of you," Dumbledore continued, "Please return to you common rooms. Dinner will be sent up to you there while we clean up this mess."  
  
The students left the hall and returned to their common rooms as instructed and sure enough, soon food appeared and the Gryffindors eagerly began eating.  
  
After awhile, Sirius and James walked into the common room grinning from ear to ear, almost as if they thought getting detention was a prize. They made a beeline for the food but Alex stepped in front of them.  
  
"And just where do you think you're going?" he asked.  
  
"To get food," Sirius replied.  
  
"But you're wearing food!" Megan called and the Gryffindors laughed.  
  
"Sorry, to get food to eat," Sirius said.  
  
"Not until you're cleaned up," Alex said.  
  
"But that'll take forever!" James groaned.  
  
"And all the food will be gone!" Sirius added.  
  
Alex shrugged, "You should've thought of that before you started the food fight," he said in his best Head Boy voice. However, Lily noticed he was smiling ever so slightly.  
  
The two boys groaned but trudged off to clean up.  
  
As Lily watched them go, she almost felt sorry for them. After all they did look rather pathetic with food stuck in their hair and stains all down their robes, but it was their own fault.  
  
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Yay! I'm done another chapter! Personally I feel that it's one of my more well written chapters even if it is mostly fluff. However, this story's kind of in the 'fluff stage' right now so there's not much I can do about it. Anywho, please review! Thanks!  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	22. Ideas and Incedents

Disclaimer: Just in case you're wondering, Harry Potter is not mine.  
  
Hey everyone! Here's another chapter, sorry it's been awhile between updates lately but I have been swamped with homework have been super busy. That added to the fact that I haven't really been in the mood to work on this I just wasn't writing. It also didn't help that I received a very negative anonymous review which made me rather unhappy. Oh well, can't please everybody. Anywho, this particular chapter had to be rewritten several times because I kind of went a tad overboard. Many of you have probably noticed that the character Megan, who is based on me, is a typical Mary-Sue. I do not like having Mary-Sues in my stories so I'm trying to change that. Also, this story isn't really going in the direction I want it to go so I may have to rewrite a few chapters. I'll at least try to correct it in later chapters but I'm not promising anything. Anywho, big thanks to Jen for her advice which was very much appreciated but enough rambling, enjoy and remember to review!  
  
Chapter 22: Ideas & Incidents  
  
It was a particularly chilly December day so it was hard work for Lily to get out of bed that morning, despite the fact that she was normally a morning person.  
  
"Hurry up guys!" Carol said as she ran from bed to bed shaking first Lily, then Karen and finally Megan, "You can't sleep all day!"  
  
"And why not?" Karen mumbled as she pulled her covers over her head.  
  
"Yeah," Lily said as she sat up slowly, still wrapped in her covers. "I like my nice warm bed."  
  
Megan mumbled something incoherently from the other side of the room and rolled over.  
  
"But we'll be late for breakfast!" Carol said.  
  
Megan sat up super fast, "Food!" she yelled excitedly. She tried to scramble out of bed but was too tangled in her covers so instead rolled onto the floor causing the other three to laugh. "Stupid blankets!" she said from the floor as she untangled herself. She finally managed after a few minutes and threw the covers back on her bed. "Haha! Take that you blankets you!" she said triumphantly before hurrying over to her trunk to find her clothes.  
  
"Nicely done Megan," Karen said as she too rolled out of bed.  
  
Lily stretched, "Wednesdays are almost as bad as Mondays," she commented as she swung her legs over the side of her bed.  
  
"But tonight we have Astronomy," Carol said, "That's about the only class I'm any good at."  
  
"You're pretty good at Charms though," Lily said.  
  
"But I'm horrible in potions," Carol said, "Is it just me or is Laroche kind of creepy?"  
  
"I know what you mean," said Karen, "He's not as horrible as I thought he would be but he is really weird."  
  
"Not to mention strict," Lily added.  
  
"He's a good teacher though," Megan said, "He knows what he's talking about at least."  
  
"Yeah but you're good in potions," said Carol, "You have the best marks out of everyone!"  
  
"That's not true," said Megan, "Lorraine Everett and Stacy Redman in Ravenclaw is ahead of me for sure and the way Laroche favours Slytherins I think Jennifer and Bellatrix might be ahead of me."  
  
"True enough," Carol said.  
  
"Those two, Jennifer and Bellatrix I mean, are pure evil," Lily said with a shiver.  
  
"Tell me about it," said Karen, "I cannot believe that anyone our age could be that horrible."  
  
"James can be pretty horrible too," Lily commented, "I don't know how all of you can like him."  
  
"Oh, he's not that bad Lily," Megan said, "Besides, he's not evil like the Slytherins, he's just immature and stupid."  
  
"Like most boys," added Karen, and the girls giggled.  
  
"True," Lily said, "But he still bugs me."  
  
"But he hasn't ever really done anything to you so what's the big deal?" Carol asked.  
  
"I'll tell you what the big deal is," Lily said, her voice rising slightly, "He struts around Hogwarts like he owns the place, he's always doing something wrong and causing trouble, he gets away with murder and is just a pain in the butt!"  
  
Her three friends looked at her in surprise, then looked at each other and grinned.  
  
"Lily likes James, Lily likes James," Megan said in a singsong voice.  
  
"I do not!" Lily retorted.  
  
"Then why are you so vocal about your distaste for him?" asked Karen.  
  
"Because he's a stupid git, that's why," Lily said, "Now, enough talk about that moron, let's go eat."  
  
The girls headed downstairs to the Great Hall and entered just as the post began arriving. They took their seats and almost immediately two newspapers arrived for Megan, which were closely followed by a package from home for Karen. Aesop swooped over to Lily and she handed him a piece of toast and gave him a pat. He hooted then flew off with the other owls.  
  
Lily was looking after Aesop when she heard a sudden commotion from the nearby Ravenclaw table. Curious, she looked over. She spotted Gabriella Adams, a fellow first year, being hugged by her older sister, Chelsea. Both were in tears and their friends were trying desperately to comfort them.  
  
"What's wrong?" Lily asked Megan, who was currently completely absorbed in her copy of the Daily Prophet.  
  
Megan started, "What?" she said.  
  
"What's wrong with Gabriella and Chelsea?" Lily asked.  
  
"Oh, um, well . . . . . . . . . " Megan started to saw but the hall had gone completely quiet, except for a few whispers here and there.  
  
Megan looked around then handed Lily the paper and pointed at the headline which read "Family of Five Dies in Mysterious House Fire: Ministry to Investigate". Underneath the headline was a picture of the family.  
  
"That's Gabriella and Chelsea's aunt, uncle and cousins," Megan whispered, "They're one of the more prominent wizarding families. Their uncle is an Auror for the Ministry of Magic."  
  
"What's an Auror?" Lily asked in a whisper.  
  
"An Auror is someone who hunts down dark wizards and witches," Megan replied, "It's strange because in the summer the Kieran family died in an unexplained explosion too and this 'accident' appears very similar."  
  
Lily had completely forgotten about the strange accident that had occurred over the summer break because she'd been more excited about receiving her letter from Hogwarts than reading the paper. In fact, if Megan hadn't mentioned it she wouldn't have remembered at all.  
  
"Those people are-I mean-were wizards and witches too?" Lily asked.  
  
"Well, Mrs. Kieran wasn't, she was a muggle but Mr. Kieran and the kids were, they'd graduated from Hogwarts a few years ago," replied Megan, "It's strange because Mr. Kieran and two of the kids, Charlie and Kathy, all worked for the Ministry just like Mr. Admas; Mr. Kieran worked in the Department of Mysteries, Charlie was training to be an Auror and Kathy worked as a secretary."  
  
"Here's a dumb question," Lily said, "Why were the kids living at home still?"  
  
"How should I know?" Megan said with a shrug, "I didn't know them too well but Charlie was only 19 and Kathy was about 21 so maybe it was just out of convenience."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Tiny Professor Flitwick and Professor Dumbledore had just entered the hall and headed straight for the Ravenclaw table. They spoke to the two girls and escorted them out of the Hall, presumably to meet with their parents.  
  
The rest of breakfast was fairly subdued and Lily couldn't help thinking about the two strange accidents the rest of the morning.  
  
Later on potions, while working on a multiplication potion, Lily thought of something.  
  
"Megan," she said, "Are the Adams half-blooded?"  
  
"Gabriella's grandfather was muggle-born if that's what you want to know," Megan replied, as she looked up from the willow roots she was chopping, "Why?"  
  
"Well, you said the Kierans weren't pureblooded and neither were the Adams so maybe that's why they were killed," Lily said.  
  
Megan paused and thought a minute. "Maybe," she said, "But it seems a little weird because when the Kierans died it was after a whole bunch of other strange accidents but there hasn't been any others until now."  
  
Lily almost dropped the vial of sea urchin powder she was holding. "There were other strange accidents?" she said.  
  
"Well, yeah," Megan said, as she went back to chopping, "Strange things tend to happen in the wizarding world so often that no one really thinks twice about them. But these accidents are different because they're all very similar and as far as I know, all the victims were half-bloods. Then again, it could just be a coincidence but it seems strange that there's always some kind of fire or explosion."  
  
"Maybe the person who's doing it does it to destroy evidence," Lily suggested as she measured out how much sea urchin she needed for their potion.  
  
"Maybe," Megan said as she dumped the roots into the cauldron.  
  
Just then a firework went off with a loud bang and flew towards where the Ashmore twins were working. It landed in their cauldron, drenching them with their potion and suddenly there were four Ashmores, then eight......  
  
Laroche swore and rushed over with the antidote as the entire class looked on. The Slytherins sniggered rudely but the Gryffindors didn't mind because they thought it was hilarious.  
  
"Silence!" Laroche roared and the entire dungeon immediately fell quiet. He turned back to the Ashmores looking disgusted. "As if we need anymore of you!" he spat angrily, "Now drink this then the lot of you go see Madam Pomfry so she can clean you up."  
  
"Yes sir," chorused the eight Ashmores before they left.  
  
Laroche turned around looking rather dangerous, "If I ever find out who set off that thing there will be hell to pay!" he snapped, "Now finish off your potions! Class is almost over!"  
  
The class got back to work on their potions and hardly anyone spoke for the remainder of class. No one knew what to expect from Laroche anymore.  
  
The Ashmore twins didn't reappear until after classes that day when the other Gryffindors had made it back to the Common Room.  
  
"What took you guys so long?" asked Steve.  
  
"Yeah," said James, "Madam Pomfry usually fixes people up no problem."  
  
"Actually we were done before lunch," Aaron said.  
  
"We just didn't want to go back to class so we stayed up near the hospital wing pretty much all day," Shawn said.  
  
"Laroche sure was pissed," commented Sirius.  
  
"It's probably because he still can't tell us apart," said Aaron.  
  
"Neither can I," Carol muttered to Lily and Lily smothered a giggle.  
  
"Is that why he only ever calls you 'Ashmore'?" asked Dave.  
  
"Yep," said Shawn, "Stupid git. How hard can it be?"  
  
"I know!" said Aaron, "It's so obvious!"  
  
Their friends laughed because it wasn't very easy to tell the two boys apart since they were completely identical. Lily had spent the better part of the past few months learning to tell them apart without help but she was still often stumped as to who was who. It was especially hard because no matter which one you called, both would respond in case you got them confused.  
  
The rest of the evening was uneventful for once because everyone was still pretty subdued because of the accident. As Lily got ready for bed that night she couldn't stop thinking about it because it still seemed rather strange. Hopefully someone would figure out what was going on before anyone else got hurt.  
  
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And that's it! Hope you liked it. I'm a little unhappy with the ending but I didn't like the original ending I had because it made the chapter too long. This chapter was actually rewritten about five times so you'd better like it! I won't lie to you and say it's one of my favourites because its not, but I did like the multiplication potion exploding onto the Ashmore twins. Anywho, please review with constructive criticism because when you flame it's not very helpful and it just puts me in a bad mood so I don't really feel like writing.  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	23. Sudden Inspiration

Disclaimer: Does anybody actually read the disclaimers? Because shouldn't people already know that people using Fanfiction are 'borrowing' ideas from other people? Oh well, just in case I suppose I should say it again-Harry Potter isn't mine.  
  
Hey everyone! Here is another chapter of this lovely and charming story! I'm kind of sad though because I'm not getting many reviews so if you're reading this review! Then, when you're done reviewing, go tell all your friends about my story and make them read it and review and then they'll tell more people who will tell more people and it will keep going and going until I have a billion and one reviews! Anywho, here's another chapter so enjoy!  
  
Chapter 23: Sudden Inspiration  
  
It was a few days later that Lily remembered that Hogwarts would be having a talent show in two and a half weeks to celebrate the holidays.  
  
"We should do something for the talent show," she suggested to the other first-year Gryffindor girls at breakfast one morning.  
  
"But what could we do?" asked Karen, as she poured a generous amount of syrup on her pancakes.  
  
Lily shrugged, "I dunno," she said between spoonfuls of oatmeal, "I thought maybe we could sing a Christmas carol or something."  
  
"But which one?" asked Carol, as she helped herself to more oatmeal, "There's so many to chose from!"  
  
"What about "O Little Town of Bethlehem"?" suggested Julie, "That's fairly well known."  
  
"It's also religious," Megan pointed out, between bites of her pancakes, "We don't want to offend anyone incase someone doesn't like those types of songs."  
  
"This is true," Julie agreed, "Erin, can you please pass the orange juice?"  
  
"Here," Erin said, as she passed the pitcher to Julie, "But what are we going to do for music?"  
  
"I can play the piano," Brittany said.  
  
"I can play some stuff too," Megan said as she reached for more toast, "I'm already playing with Alex, Katie and Zack."  
  
"Since when?" asked Lily.  
  
"Since ten minutes ago," Megan said, "Pass the peanut butter please."  
  
"What are you guys going to do?" asked Kristin as she handed Megan the peanut butter.  
  
Megan shrugged, "I dunno," she said, as she spread the peanut butter on her toast, "Zack said something about Led Zepplin or Kiss but Katie said there was no way she'd play that in front of the entire school but Alex really wants to do an Eric Clapton song so we'll see."  
  
"What are you playing this time?" Brittany inquired, "I get the feeling you're not going to have a piano for songs like those."  
  
"Apparently I'm playing guitar," Megan said with a shrug, "Cause Zack has to play the drums since he can't really do much else, which means Katie will play bass and then Alex may or may not play guitar."  
  
"You never told me you played guitar," Lily said in surprise.  
  
"You never asked," said Megan, "Besides, it's not like I'm very good. I only started learning last year. But back to what we should be doing, picking out our own song. Any more ideas?"  
  
"How about "Frosty the Snowman"?" asked Erin.  
  
"Nah, too kiddie," said Karen.  
  
" "Silver Bells"?" suggested Julie.  
  
"Too old," said Kristin, "We should pick something really fun to do, not something that'll put everybody to sleep."  
  
"What about "Jingle Bells"?" suggested Carol, "That's lively."  
  
"Too short," said Lily, "What about "Rudolph"?"  
  
"That could work," Megan said, "Oh! Wait! I know! "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer"! That song is hilarious!"  
  
"I know that song!" Lily said, "And you're right, it is hilarious!"  
  
"Isn't it kind of offensive towards grandmothers?" asked Kristin.  
  
"Not really," said Megan.  
  
"Why don't we vote?" suggested Lily, "All in favour of "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" say aye!"  
  
"Aye!" everyone said.  
  
"Aye-aye Capitan!" Megan said, earning a laugh from everyone.  
  
"So it's settled then," Lily said, "When do you guys want to start practicing it?"  
  
"How about after classes today?" suggested Brittany, "Since we have Transfiguration I can ask McGonagall about getting a piano when we sign up for the show."  
  
"She'll probably just conjure one up in the common room," said Megan.  
  
"Wait!" said Karen, "We shouldn't practice where everyone will see us!"  
  
"Maybe we can use and empty classroom then," suggested Lily, "I'm sure in a place this big there has to be at least one room we can use."  
  
And indeed there was. After talking with Professor McGonagall following Transfiguration, the girls were lead to an unused classroom that they could use as a practice space. Before she left, and much to the delight of Brittany, Professor McGonagall transfigured one of the desks into a full blown grand piano for their use.  
  
"Wow," breathed Brittany as she ran her fingers over the keys once McGonagall had left, "This is amazing!"  
  
Even Lily who knew next to nothing about music was impressed. They girls spent the next hour practicing the words with Brittany who already knew the entire song since it was one of her favourite carols.  
  
"My grandparents really like it," she explained.  
  
Upon returning to the common room after practicing, the girls were greeted by the boys.  
  
"And where were all of you?" asked James, his arms folded across his chest.  
  
"None of your business!" snapped Lily.  
  
"A little touchy are we," James said with raised eyebrows, "Perhaps you were up to no good, is that it?"  
  
"No it's not Potter!" Lily snapped. By now a few of the older Gryffindors were looking over in interest. It was beginning to come quite common to see Lily and James bicker.  
  
"Well then why won't you tell us?" James asked, his voice rising like Lily's, "If it's not something bad you shouldn't have any reason not to tell us, right guys?"  
  
But Lily didn't wait for the boys to respond.  
  
"Why do you need to know?" retorted Lily, "It has nothing to do with you so quite being so nosey!" And with that, she stormed upstairs to her room where she fell back on her bed.  
  
Her friends followed quickly behind her and entered the room slowly.  
  
"That Potter is horrible!" Lily nearly shouted when she saw her friends enter.  
  
"He's just teasing Lily," Karen said, "You should just ignore him."  
  
"How?" Lily asked as she sat up to look at her friends who were now seated on the nearby beds as well, "He's so nosey and annoying all the time!"  
  
"Lily, you've barely given the guy a chance," Julie said, "You almost always seem to fight with him now days."  
  
"Well he's a stupid git so excuse me if I'm not particularly fond of him," Lily said huffily. Why were her friends against her? They shouldn't be defending that Potter but should be trashing him with her.  
  
Lily noticed Megan roll her eyes and smirk.  
  
"And what pray tell is so funny?" she snapped.  
  
"Nothing," Megan replied, but she was still smiling, "I'd better go owl my mum to tell her I need my guitar. I'll be back in a little bit." Megan grabbed a quill and some parchment then left for the owlery.  
  
"And I should probably get that Potions homework done," Julie said.  
  
"Me too," Brittany said, "It looks so hard."  
  
Soon, all the other girls had left to do homework or other things so Lily was left in her room alone to think.  
  
"Stupid Potter," she muttered to herself, "Thinks he's so important and that everyone should tell him everything whenever he wants to know it. If he paid half as much attention to his school work he'd actually have decent marks on his own but no, he copies Remus and Remus actually lets him! Why do boys have to be so bloody infuriating!"  
  
Lily sighed and pulled out her history homework. She considered going down to the common room but that Potter was probably still down there being a nuisance again and she didn't feel like working in the library so instead she decided to work on her bed. She had just started work on her essay about Uric the Oddball when she heard a sudden explosion of noise from the common room. Leaving her things on her bed, she raced downstairs to see what was going on.  
  
When she entered the common room she saw, and smelt, what all the commotion was about.  
  
Lily had never smelt something so foul in her entire life and immediately knew who had to be behind it.  
  
"Stupid Potter," she muttered as she pinched her nose, in hopes of avoiding the smell.  
  
She looked around and noticed that James and the other boys was in fact being severely lectured by several angry prefects while many people dashed out of the room in hopes of finding breathable air.  
  
"What happened?" Lily asked as she made her way over to where Karen and Carol were.  
  
"The boys 'accidentally' set off a bunch of dungbombs," Karen said, "They're so stupid because if you're going to do something like that you do it to the Slytherins, not to your own house."  
  
"They are so immature!" Lily said in frustration.  
  
"I can't breathe!" Carol wheezed, "Can we please leave?"  
  
"Sure, it's almost time for dinner anyway," Karen said as she looked up at the clock.  
  
The three girls headed towards the portrait hole. As they were heading down to the Great Hall the met up with Megan who was returning from the owlery.  
  
"Dungbombs in the common room?" Megan asked with raised eyebrows as she approached.  
  
"How'd you know?" asked Carol.  
  
"Because you smell funny," Megan said, "Here, let me help you with that." She pulled out her wand and mutter a spell and suddenly a strong gust of wind encircled the girls, blowing away the offending odor. "Much better," Megan said as she pocketed her wand, "Now I take it you were heading down for dinner?"  
  
"Where else?" Lily said and the four continued down to the hall.  
  
They entered to discover that some of the other Gryffindors had not managed to rid themselves of the smell and that several Slytherins seemed to find it highly amusing.  
  
"This is a school!" Bellatrix shouted, "Not a farm!"  
  
"Hey Bella!" Megan yelled back, "You would be an expert on manure wouldn't you since you live on a farm but especially since your mum's a cow and all, eh?"  
  
Bellatrix looked murderous and several Slytherins glared at Megan who waved back cheerfully.  
  
"Watch your mouth Johnston," one of the older boys from Slytherins snapped, "If you don't, your family could suffer from some ill-fortune."  
  
"Oh, I'm real scared now Rosier," Megan said sarcastically, "But next time you want to threaten someone try and be a bit more creative OK? I understand it's hard for you because of how far your head is up your butt but at least try to be a little original now and again alright?"  
  
The Slytherins were now looking absolutely furious and probably would've hexed Megan a million times over had Alex not intervened.  
  
"Megan," he said warningly.  
  
"What?" Megan said innocently, "I was only having a nice little chat with our dear friends the Slytherins."  
  
"Megan, stop egging them on," Alex said looking exasperated, "Mum's already worried enough because of what happened to the Adams OK? Just please try and keep your mouth shut for once. You may not be afraid of the Slytherins but a lot of their families are very powerful in the Ministry and we don't want them angry."  
  
"Fine," Megan said reluctantly, "I'll be good."  
  
"Good," Alex said, "Now excuse me, I have to go talk to Professor McGonagall about having someone clean the common room."  
  
"He's right Megan," Karen said as the girls sat down, "If you keep pestering the Slytherins like that you're going to end up getting hurt."  
  
"As if I'm scared of the Slytherins," Megan said as she rolled her eyes, "I don't see what the big deal is, I always harass them-" she jerked her thumb towards the Slytherin table "-if I didn't they'd wonder what the heck was going on."  
  
Lily suddenly felt chilled, as if she'd just been warned about something. Either that or it was an after effect of the dungbombs.  
  
"Megan," she said, "You should be careful. I don't like how casual all the Slytherins have been acting about the accident and it's making me nervous."  
  
Megan gave her a strange look, "And why's that?" she asked so only Lily could hear.  
  
"I don't know," Lily replied, "It's just that....."  
  
"Just what?" Megan prodded.  
  
"I don't know," Lily said slowly, "It feels like the Slytherins know something the rest of us don't, something important."  
  
Megan studied Lily for a minute, her face an unreadable mask. "I'll be right back," she said as she stood up and headed over to where Alex was now sitting having finished talking with Professor McGonagall. Lily watched as the two conversed. Alex looked worried and seemed to be avoiding Megan's questions but that only made Megan angry. He seemed to try to calm her down but without success and she looked about ready to explode. Lily strained her ears to listen to what they were saying.  
  
".... not a child! Why won't anyone tell me these things?" Megan hissed, her voice rising as she talked.  
  
Alex made shushing gestures and Lily couldn't hear what he said.  
  
"..... care, I .......to know what's going on! Everyone's hiding ..... would you rather I ....... why won't you tell me about ....." Megan continued but she had lowered her voice a little so Lily only heard parts of what she said.  
  
Again, Alex made shushing gestures but Megan wasn't finished and began using some colourful language that turned a few heads.  
  
Alex now looked furious.  
  
"That was uncalled for!" he said sharply, "I should give you detention!"  
  
"Go ahead!" Megan shot back, "I'm sure mum and dad would really appreciate that, especially since you're supposed to be looking out for me and all. I'm sure they'll also like to know about how you and Libby have been snogging in the Astronomy Tower the past few days after curfew."  
  
Alex looked horrified and looked around to see how many people had heard. A few nearby girls giggled and a couple of the boys gave him a thumbs up in response.  
  
"Megan!" he said in embarrassment.  
  
"As if everybody didn't already know about it," Megan said as she rolled her eyes.  
  
Alex sighed then said something in a low voice and Megan grinned. She hugged him around the middle then returned to her seat.  
  
Lily raised her eyebrows and looked at Megan. "I take it he's going to tell you later," she said.  
  
"Of course," Megan said, "What big brother can deny his little sister anything?" she said, "Now let's eat! I'm starving!"  
  
"Why am I not surprised?" Lily said with a laugh.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
And I'm done yet another chapter! FYI, no I don't actually play the guitar but I've always sort of wanted to and this is fiction so I decided what the heck, why not? I do actually play the piano a bit though, took lessons for a few years then quit to pursue my athletics (primarily soccer and track). However, I quit enjoy drama and acting and all that good stuff so I figured I should do something in the talent show, despite the fact that my singing and dancing abilities are somewhat lacking. Anywho, enough rambling, I'm done now so please review because reviews make me feel special and all warm and fuzzy inside!  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~  
  
P.S. The more reviews I get the more incentive I have to write more chapters! (Hint, hint, wink, wink, nudge, nudge!) 


	24. A Star Studden Evening

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all associated characters do not belong to me but are the property of J.K. Rowling.  
  
Hey everyone! I'm so sorry about taking so long to update but I had a bit of a writer's block and then I had a whole bunch of homework pile up on me plus I have track and soccer practice all the time and I have a boyfriend now. (His name's Chris and he had a cameo in this story awhile back and I'll probably have him pop up again. I put him in Hufflepuff so he's a first-year like Lily and the others.) In other words-my free time is very limited at the moment. Basically it's taken forever to write this chapter for about a billion different reasons but now I finally have time! Anywho, this chapter should be nice and long and again, I apologize for the wait. (Wow-it's basically been three whole months, I should probably write really fast from now on then.)  
  
P.S. There's a little bit of bad language in this chapter but it's the name of a card game so no one's being called bad names.  
  
Chapter 24: A Star Studden Evening  
  
Lily could hardly believe that the talent show was less then a week away. She and the other girls had been practising dilagently and had really improved their singing skills. An agreement on costumes, however, was an entirely different matter.  
  
"I still think we should stick with the classic Santa hats," Karen said.  
  
"But that's so boring!" Carol argued. "Why not reindeer antlers? That's way more interesting!"  
  
"Wouldn't antlers be kind of heavy?" asked Kristin.  
  
"Not real antlers," Carol said, "Cloth ones. I see them all the time at stores."  
  
"What would we wear for clothes then?" Lily asked. "It's a good idea Carol but I don't really want to wear a reindeer suit."  
  
"Well I dunno," Carol said, "I hadn't really thought about that."  
  
"Why don't we just wear whatever we want as long as it's Christmasy?" Megan suggested. "That way everyone gets to wear what they want."  
  
"But then we won't match!" Carol moaned.  
  
"So?" Lily said, "I think it's a great idea!"  
  
"Oh alright," Carol said, finally relenting.  
  
"Good, I'm glad that's settled because I have to go practice with my charming older siblings," Megan said as she gathered her things. "I'll see you guys later."  
  
"OK! Bye!" the girls called after Megan as she hurried out into the hallway.  
  
"I don't know how she's been getting all her homework done lately," Brittany said, shaking her head. "It seems that if she's not practicing with us she's practicing her other song."  
  
"Well it's not like we've had a lot of homework lately," Lily said as she picked up her bag. "I think every teacher but Laroche feels that we should have a break."  
  
"Even Professor McGonagall isn't giving us much lately," Erin added.  
  
The girls finished gathering their things and then headed down the corrider to Gryffindor Tower. As they were passing an open door to an empty classroom they heard familiar voices coming from inside.  
  
"That sounds like James and Sirius!" exclaimed Karen.  
  
"Oh goody," Lily muttered under her breat as she rolled her eyes.  
  
The girls peeked inside and saw the two boys acting out a scene while Megan watched sceptically.  
  
"You're not even trying James!" Megan critized. "Sirius is doing all the work and you're just going through the motions."  
  
"What's going on?" asked Lily. "And shouldn't you be practicing?"  
  
Megan jumped and spun around. "Oh, it's just you guys," she said looking relieved. "I was going to meet ups with Alex, Katie and Zack but when I heard these two-"she pointed at Sirius and James, "rehersing for the talent show I just had to see what was going on."  
  
"What are they doing?" asked Kristin.  
  
"The Dead Parrot sketch from Monty Python," Megan replied. "And James is murdering it."  
  
"I am not!" James said furiously.  
  
"You aren't nearly loud enough, you still don't know your lines and there's no feeling," Megan said. "Meanwhile Sirius is hysterically funny and knows his lines."  
  
Sirius grinned, "What can I say? It's a gift," he said.  
  
"I'll give you a gift," James responded, shaking his fist.  
  
"Oh knock it off," Megan said, "Just do it right!"  
  
"Well you do it then if you're so smart," James said, "Go on, do it!"  
  
Megan grinned, "With pleasure," she smirked. "Sirius, take it away if you please."  
  
Sirius grinned back, "I would be delighted," he said, picking up a cage which contained a stuffed parrot. "Do you want to change the first few lines...?"  
  
"Nah, just keep it the way it is for now," Megan replied.  
  
"Quite stalling and go!" James yelled in frustration.  
  
"Alright, alright, don't get your knickers in a twist," Sirius said. He walked over to Megan, who had moved behind the desk they were using as a counter. "Hello, I wish to register a complaint! Hello? Miss?" he said with an over the top Irish accent which made all the girls laugh.  
  
Megan turned. "What do you mean miss?" she said with raised eyebrows.  
  
Sirius looked distinctly ruffled. "Oh, I'm sorry, I have a cold," he said. "I wish to make a complaint!"  
  
"Sorry, we're closing for lunch," Megan said, she turned as if to leave.  
  
Sirius shrugged off Megan's words and continued. "Never mind that my lad, I wish to make a complaint about this parrot which I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique!" he said.  
  
Megan peered into the cage, "Ah yes, the Norwegian Blue. What's wrong with it?" she asked.  
  
"I'll tell you what's wrong with it," Sirius said. "It's dead, that's what's wrong with it."  
  
Lily couldn't help laughing. It was the silliest line and the way Sirius said it just made it even funnier. James on the other had did not look very thrilled at the positive reaction Sirius and Megan were generating from their audience.  
  
"No, no, no! It's restin', look!" Megan said as she pointed at the bird.  
  
"Look matey," Sirius said, "I know a dead parrot when I see one." He held up the cage and stared at it in a pointed fashion. "And I'm lookin' at one right now."  
  
There were more howls of laughter from the girls.  
  
"No, no sir, he's not dead. He's restin'!" Megan said.  
  
"Restin'?" Sirius said in a disbelieving voice.  
  
"Yeah, restin'!" Megan said, as she noddded her head vigorously. "Remarkable bird the Norwegian blue, beautiful plummage ain't it?"  
  
"The plummage don't enter into it!" Sirius said angrily, "It's stone dead!"  
  
"No, no, no! It's just restin'!"  
  
"All right then, if it's restin' I'll wake it up," Sirius said as he hoisted the cage up again so that it was directly in front of his face. "Hello Polly!" he shouted, making all the girls laugh again. "I've got a nice cuttlefish for you when you wake up, Polly Parrot!"  
  
Megan hit the cage, "There! It moved!" she said triumphantly.  
  
"No he didn't!" Sirius said, "That was you hittin' the cage!"  
  
"I did not!"  
  
"Yes you did!" Sirius said. He took the parrot out of the cage and began shouting in it's ear. "Hello Polly Parrot!" he shouted. He then began hitting the bird against the table. "Oh wakey wakey!"  
  
Lily couldn't stop laughing as the parrot repeatedly hit the table with a loud bang.  
  
Sirius then proceeded to toss the parrot into the air and it flew over his shoulder and landed with a thud behind him. He turned and looked back at Megan. "Now that's what I call a dead parrot!" he said.  
  
Lily was laughing so hard she felt as though she would explode. She'd known Sirius was funny but this was incredible! The boy was a natural comedian!  
  
Megan stared at the bird for a moment then turned back to Sirius. "No, no, no! Now it's stunned!" she said.  
  
"Stunned?" Sirius said incredulously with raised eyebrows-an expression that made Lily laugh again. He narrowed his eyes, "Look my lad, I've had just about enough of this!" he said. "This parrot is most definitely deceased. And when I bought it not half an hour ago, you assured me that its lack of movement was due to it being tired and shagged out after a long squawk."  
  
Megan looked at the bird again. There was a awkward silence then, "It's probably pining for the fiords!" she said.  
  
"Pining for the fiords?" Sirius said, his ridiculous accent making it sound even more laughable. "What kind of talk is this? Look, why did it fall flat on its back the moment I got it home then?"  
  
"The Norwegian Blue prefers kipping on it's back," Megan said matter of factly. "Beautiful bird eh? Lovely plummage!"  
  
"Now look here," Sirius said as waved his finger at Megan, "I took the liberty of exaiming that parrot when I got home and discovered that the only reason it had been sitting on its perch in the first place was that it had been nailed there."  
  
Lily laughed, Sirius was definitely getting into it.  
  
There was a pause and then, "Well of course it was nailed there!" Megan said. "If I hadn't nailed it there it would've muscled up to them bars, pecked them apart and voom!" She made a zooming motion with her hand to emphasize her point.  
  
"Voom?" Sirius said looking extremely sceptical. Megan nodded vigorously and Sirius continued, "Look matey," he said as he retrieved the parrot and threw it on the table, "This parrot wouldn't voom if you put four thousand volts through it! It's bleeding demised!"  
  
"No no no! It's pinning!"  
  
"It's not pining!" Sirius yelled. "It's passed on! This parrot is no more! It has ceased top be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late parrot! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rest in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to its perch it'd be pushing up daisies! It's rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible! That is an ex-parrot!"  
  
There was another long pause and then, "Well I guess I'd better replace it then," Megan said as she turned to look behind her.  
  
"I should think so!" Sirius said. He then turned to his audience, "If you want to get anything done in this country you've got to complain until you're blue in the face."  
  
Megan turned to face Sirius again, "Sorry guv, we're right out of parrots," she said.  
  
"I see, I see, I get the picture," Sirius said as he rolled his eyes.  
  
Megan looked around, "I've got a slug," she said.  
  
"Does it talk?"  
  
"Not really, no."  
  
"Well that's scarcely a bloody replacement then is it?!" Sirius shouted.  
  
"No, I guess not."  
  
There was a long pause then...  
  
"Do you, do you want to come back to my place?" Megan asked.  
  
"Sure, alright then," Sirius said, and the two turned and walked out the door.  
  
Their audience applauded and shouted words of praise and the two re-entered the room. James, however, did not look too thrilled.  
  
"It wasn't that good," he said, but the others ignored him.  
  
"How come you know all that?" asked Lily.  
  
"I have teenaged siblings and I live in a muggle neighbourhood so it's pretty much a given," Megan explained. "Especially since Zack's obsessed with Monty Python. He, Erik and Dan are doing 'Bulbous Bouffant' for the talent show."  
  
"A couple of people are doing 'The Argument Skecth' too," Sirius said.  
  
"And 'The Cheese Shop Sketch," Megan added, "Plus other people are doing 'The Spam Sketch'."  
  
"Wow," said Karen, "That's a lot of Monty Python."  
  
"But it's funny," Sirius said, "So it makes sense. Otherwise it'd just be a bunch of singing and dancing."  
  
"Isn't Katie going to be mad that you're late?" Julie asked Megan.  
  
Megan shrugged, "Probably but I'll just say I was in th library," she said.  
  
"Oh really?" came a voice from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Katie standing there, hands on her hips and looking furious. "Practice was supposed to start 15 minutes ago," she said.  
  
"I was helping James and Sirius," Megan explained.  
  
"I don't care, you should've been at practice now march! We have a lot of work to do," Katie said.  
  
"Fine," Megan said, "I'll see you guys later." She waved good-bye and disappeared down the corridor.  
  
"Do you want to run through it again?" Sirius asked James.  
  
"No," James said flatly, he was already gathering his things.  
  
"Oh, alright then," Sirius said. "You girls going up to the common room?"  
  
The girls nodded.  
  
"Guess we'll be your escort then," Sirius said, "Come on Jamesie-the lovely ladies need us men to protect them."  
  
Lily laughed, Sirius was so funny and had an impish little grin that made him look friendly but James still looked sour. Lily didn't understand what his problem was, she knew Megan could be a bit pushy and demanding sometimes but he'd been the one to say she should do it.  
  
**************************************************************************** ******  
  
The week passed in a blur. As Friday drew closer Lily began feeling more and more nervous. They had dress rehersal with everyone else on Thursday but they weren't allowed to watch the other acts and had to wait outside in another room to be called in.  
  
"Some green room," Megan commented during the rehersal, "It's not even green!"  
  
"It's not supposed to be," James said.  
  
"I know that," Megan said, "I was kidding!"  
  
"Sure you were," James said.  
  
Lily noticed James still seemed mad at Megan, and to some extent Sirius. Lily just couldn't understand why he was mad at his two friends, it didn't make any sense, it was almost as if he was jealous. It couldn't be denied, Megan and Sirius definitely worked well together-in fact they were already planning something they could do at the next talent show.  
  
Rehersal went without a hitch and the students were allowed to go back up to their dorms before dinner. Lily was beginning to feel as though she had butterflies in her stomach-even though the show was still over 24 hours away. She couldn't help it, she was nervous and worried about making a fool of herself. And she wasn't the only one. Carol was already quite jumpy, Karen was snapping at everyone who said anything, Julie and Erin were even quietter than usual, Brittany sat drumming her fingers as if she was playing the piano and Kristin was very giggly. The only one who seemed completely unconcerned was Megan. Although Lily did notice Megan was more talkative than usual and seemed rather hyper. Megan and Sirius were bouncing of the walls that night-literally.  
  
"Get down from there!" Alex yelled at the two, who were currently hanging upside down from the ceiling with the help of a few choice spells.  
  
"But it's fun!" Megan argued.  
  
"Yeah!" Sirius agreed.  
  
"I don't care how fun it is get down!" Alex shouted.  
  
"Mom let's me do it at home all the time," Megan argued.  
  
"But this isn't home this is school and school has different rules!" Alex replied.  
  
"But..."  
  
Alex pulled out his wand, "I'm warning you Megan," he said, "Get down now!"  
  
"Fine," Megan said and she jumped down.  
  
"You too Sirius," Alex said.  
  
"Alright, alright," Sirius said as he also jumped down.  
  
Alex looked at his watch, "Actually, I think all of you should go to bed," he said as he pointed at the younger students.  
  
There was an loud outburst protests and complaints from the younger students as Alex and the prefects began herding them upstairs.  
  
"This is an outrage!" Sirius yelled.  
  
"Discrimination based on age!" shouted Megan.  
  
Lily noticed that the two were immediately seperated and sent to their own dorms. The first year girls marched up to their dorms, got ready for bed and crawled into bed but they were all much too nervous and excited to sleep. The next day would soon be upon them and they would have to sing for everyone in the entire school plus all the family members who would be coming to watch.  
  
**************************************************************************** ******  
  
The morning of the Talent Show everyone awoke to discover Hogwarts was covered in a blanket of fresh white snow. Lily and Megan were all for having a snowball fight but unfortunately they had to go to class-not that any of the teachers would be stupid enough to try and teach something new the day before Christmas holidays. In Transfiguration Professor McGonagall handed out their homework for the holidays and told them they could sit at their desks and talk for the rest of the class provided there was no running around. In Herbology the class potted poinsettias that would be placed on display in the Great Hall for the Talent Show that night. Lily was working with Megan across from Cass, Chris, Colin Ho (whom Lily had met only briefly) and Jeff from Hufflepuff.  
  
"I heard you girls are in the talent show tonight," Chris said.  
  
"Yeah, we are," Megan said.  
  
"What are you doing?" asked Jeff.  
  
"We're singing 'Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer'," replied Lily.  
  
Colin laughed, "I know that song," he said, "It's really funny."  
  
"Are you nervous about tonight?" asked Cass.  
  
"Yes!" Lily said.  
  
"Not really," Megan said.  
  
"How can you not be nervous?" asked Chris.  
  
"You're even in two things!" Lily said.  
  
Megan shrugged, "So? I'm nervous but I've been onstage before so it's not that big of a deal."  
  
"You are one weird kid," commented Jeff.  
  
"Oh, I know," said Megan.  
  
**************************************************************************** *****  
  
That night after dinner, the girls hurriedly got dressed and headed downstairs to the Great Hall. All of their parents had come to watch.  
  
"Mum! Dad!" Lily said when she spied her parents talking with Mr. and Mrs. Johnston.  
  
"Hi Sweetie!" her mother said as she gave her a hug.  
  
"How's my girl?" said Mr. Evans as he ruffled Lily's hair.  
  
"Good!" Lily said.  
  
"All set for tonight?" asked her mother.  
  
"Uh huh," Lily said with a nod, "We've been practicing really hard."  
  
"That's what you said in your letter," said Mr. Evans.  
  
"Where's Petunia?" Lily asked, she had only just noticed her sister was absent.  
  
Her parents looked at each other then back at Lily.  
  
"She didn't want to come," Mrs. Evans said slowly.  
  
"Oh," Lily said, "I'm not surprised."  
  
"And why's that?" he father asked.  
  
"Because of how she acted when I got my letter from Hogwarts," said Lily.  
  
Her mother sighed, "I don't know what's gotten into her lately," she said, "She's been very distant."  
  
"It's because she's got all those new friends, mum," Lily said. "Don't worry about it, she'll come around. But I should go sit with everyone else, the show's going to start in like 15 minutes!"  
  
"OK honey," said Mrs. Evans, "Break a leg!"  
  
"Thanks!" Lily said before she went in search of her friends.  
  
The girls checked in with a seventh year Ravenclaw who was the stage manager and then took their seats. Lily opened her program and read:  
  
~Talent Show~  
  
Masters of Ceremonies: Alex Johnston and Chloe Lemieux  
  
"Fury of the Night" from Riverdance as performed by Jennifer Anderson  
  
"L-O-V-E" by Frank Sinatra, as performed by William Turner  
  
"Castle On A Cloud" from Les Miserables, vocals by Bellatrix Black with piano by Jennifer Strong  
  
"On My Own" from Les Miserables, as performed by Sarah Ross  
  
"Dead Parrot" from Monty Python's Flying Circus, as performed by Sirius Black and James Potter  
  
"The Lady Is A Tramp" by Rodgers & Hart, as performed by Gilderoy Lockhart  
  
Sonata in A, Second movement by Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach, as performed by Brittany Groeneweg  
  
"White Christmas" as performed by David Bennett, Lauren Daniels, Alice Griffin and Frank Longbottom  
  
"Favourite Things" from The Sound of Music as performed by Kayla Jones  
  
"Bulbous Bouffant" from Monty Python's Flying Circus, as performed by Dan Davidson, Erik Ferguson and Zack Johnston  
  
"Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz as performed by Rebecca Taylor  
  
"Tomorrow" from Annie as performed by Joanna Wilcox  
  
"Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid as performed by Cynthia Nixon  
  
"Cathy's Clown" by the Everly Brothers, as performed by Dean Edwards (drums), Dan Miller (piano), Ryan Seacrest (vocals & guitar), George Windsor (bass) and Elijah Woods (vocals & guitar)  
  
"Who's On First?" by Abbot & Costello, as performed by Tyler O'Connell and Kevin Sinclair  
  
~Intermission~  
  
"Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from The Nutcracker as performed by Claire Dawkins  
  
"Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer", vocals by Kristin Ambacher, Erin Bowering, Karen Carranza, Lily Evans, Megan Johnston, Carol Ngai and Julie Perna with piano by Brittany Groeneweg  
  
"Baby Love" by the Supremes, as performed by Karen Brown, Gladys Nightingale and Rosemary Richardson  
  
"You're So Vain" by Carly Simon, as performed by Lauren Daniels  
  
"The Argument Sketch" from Monty Python's Flying Circus, as performed by Orlando Bloom, Josh Hartnett, Brendan Scott and Jacob Sinclair  
  
"Sixteen Going on Seventeen" from The Sound of Music, as performed by Elizabeth Goeller and Alex Johnston  
  
Prelude in B Minor by Frederic Chopin, as performed by Chelsea Adams  
  
"Put On A Happy Face" from Bye Bye Birdie, as performed by Albert Peterson, featuring Colleen Miller and Rebecca Plum as "The Sad Girls"  
  
"Silent Night", vocals by Melissa Fairbanks, Lisa Gibbons and Diane La Belle and piano by Georgina Nicholson  
  
"The Cheese Shop Sketch" from Monty Python's Flying Circus, as performed by Zack Bennett and Bradley Scott  
  
"Getting To Know You" from The King & I, as performed by Julie Andrews  
  
"Greased Lightning" from Grease, as performed by Louis Andrews, Kyle Grant, Robert MacMillian, Liam Newton, Harry Osbourn, Charles Schultz, Mitchell Standford, William Turner, Boris Westman  
  
"Say A Little Prayer For You" by Aretha Franklin, as performed by Florence Henderson, Michelle Miller, Gloria Morningstar and Anne Murry  
  
"The Spam Sketch" from Monty Python's Flying Circus, as performed by Thomas Anderson, Joseph Bennett, Cassandra Daniels, Claire Felton, Patrick Thomas, Matthew Wilkinson and James Woodsworth  
  
"Further On Up the Road" by Eric Clapton, as performed by Alex (vocals), Katie (bass), Megan (guitar) and Zack Johnston (drums)  
  
"Wow," she commented, "There's so much!"  
  
"I know!" said Karen, "This is going to be so awesome!"  
  
The lights dimmed and Alex walked out onstage with Chloe Lemieux, the Head girl who was in Ravenclaw.  
  
"Welcome to the Hogwarts Talent Show!" Chloe said, "I'm Chloe Lemieux."  
  
"And I'm Alex Johnston," said Alex, "And we'll be you hosts this evening."  
  
"Tonight we have many many acts from various students ranging in age from the youngest to the oldest," Chloe said.  
  
"That's right," said Alex, "Our first act is Jennifer Anderson perfomring "Fury of the Night" from Riverdance. So sit back, relax and enjoy the show!"  
  
The show moved quickly. Lily was impressed once again by Sirius' comedic talent when he and James took the stage for they're scene. James was quite funny but Sirius defiently stole the show. Brittany's piano solo was beautiful and Lily was very impressed. There was a lot of singing but everyone who performed was amazing. Zack and his friends who did "Bulbous Bouffant"-another Monty Python skit, were hysterically funny and like James and Sirius had the audience rolling in the isles laughing. When intermission came, the girls got up and went backstage, they would be right after Claire Dawkins who was doing a ballet solo.  
  
It seemed to Lily that the intermission did not last fifthteen minutes because the next thing she knew, the lights had once again dimmed and she was standing backstage watching Claire dance. She suddenly felt rather quesy. Was it normal to feel this nervous? All too soon Claire had finished and walked backstage. Lily and the other girls hurried onstage behind the curtains as the backstage crew wheeled out the piano for Brittany. Lily could hear Chole and Alex talking but didn't know what they were saying. She heard applause and suddenly the curtain opened. She was momentairly blinded by the lights but quickly recovered when she heard Brittany start playing. Together, the girls sang:  
  
"Grandma got run over by a reindeer  
  
Walking home from our house Christmas eve.  
  
You can say there's no such thing as Santa,  
  
But as for me and Grandpa, we believe.  
  
She'd been drinkin' too much egg nog,  
  
And we'd begged her not to go.  
  
But she'd left her medication,  
  
So she stumbled out the door into the snow.  
  
When they found her Christmas mornin',  
  
At the scene of the attack.  
  
There were hoof prints on her forehead,  
  
And incriminatin' Claus marks on her back.  
  
Grandma go run over by a reindeer,  
  
Walkin' home from our house Christmas eve.  
  
You can say there's no such thing as Santa,  
  
But as for me and Grandpa, we believe.  
  
Now were all so proud of Grandpa,  
  
He's been takin' this so well.  
  
See him in there watchin' football,  
  
Drinkin' beer and playin' cards with cousin Belle.  
  
It's not Christmas without Grandma.  
  
All the family's dressed in black.  
  
And we just can't help but wonder:  
  
Should we open up her gifts or send them back?  
  
Grandma got run over by a reindeer,  
  
Walkin' home from our house Christmas eve.  
  
You can say there's no such thing as Santa,  
  
But as for me and Grandpa, we believe.  
  
Now the goose is on the table  
  
And the pudding made of pig.  
  
And a blue and silver candle,  
  
That would just have matched the hair in Grandma's wig.  
  
I've warned all my friends and neighbours.  
  
Better watch out for yourselves."  
  
They should never give a license,  
  
To a man who drives a sleigh and plays with elves.  
  
Grandma got run over by a reindeer,  
  
Walkin' home from our house, Christmas eve.  
  
You can say there's no such thing as Santa,  
  
But as for me and Grandpa, we believe."  
  
There was a burst of applause and Lily could see all their parents standing up in the audience giving them a standing ovation. She could help grinning, they'd actually sounded really good! The curtain closed and the girls all hugged each other as they jumped up and down chanting, "We did it! We did it!" until the crew told them they had to move. They ran back to their seats to watch the rest of the show. Right before the second last act, another Monty Python skit, Megan got up to go backstage because she and her siblings were the closing act of the evening.  
  
"Well," Chloe said as she walked out onstage after the cast of "The Spam Sketch" had vacated the stage. "We have one final act this evening. My co- host has once again left me on my own because he and his siblings, Katie, Megan and Zack are going to perform "Further On Up the Road" by Eric Clapton. So take it away guys!"  
  
The curtains opened to reveal the four Johnstons. Katie was on bass, Zack drums, Alex was doing vocals and Megan was on guitar. They launched into the song and soon had the audience getting into it. Well, the audience members who weren't Slytherins anyway.  
  
As Lily watched, she noticed that Megan had a look of extreme concentration on her face but that at the same time she was grinning. Lily felt the same way, the talent show had most definitely been a roaring success.  
  
**************************************************************************** ****  
  
OK! That's it for now! Once again I apologize for the wait! I'll try and get chapter 25 up soon! Please review!  
  
~*~MeGaN~*~ 


	25. Happy Holidays

Disclaimer: Harry Potter doesn't belong to me.  
  
I know, I know, it's been forever since I updated, at least two months if not more. I'm really really sorry but I've been super busy lately. I got a summer job so I'm not sure how much I'll be writing in the summer but hopefully I'll be back to about one chapter every week or two soon. Anywho, I won't bore you with all the happenings in my life so here's the next chapter, enjoy and please review!  
  
P.S. It's a nice long chapter to make up for my lack of update!  
  
Chapter 25: Happy Holidays  
  
Lily awoke bright and early the day after the talent show to finish the rest of her packing. She looked over at her three roomates who were still fast asleep under their blankets. Smiling to herself, she pulled on a pair of blue jeans, a red turtleneck and her favourite red and green Christmas sweatshirt before packing her pyjamas in the bottom of her trunk along with her slippers. She then gathered up her books and parchment from the bedside table, carefully placing them on top of her clothes. Deciding she had everything she would need, she was about to close her trunk when there was a loud bang as something hit the window. Startled, Lily dropped the lid to her trunk which made an even louder bang.  
  
There was a shout from Megan, and she promptly tumbled out of bed onto the floor, making Lily burst out laughing.  
  
"What's going on?" Carol asked, as she sat up rubbing her eyes.  
  
"Yeah," Karen said as she stretched, "And who made all that noise?"  
  
Lily's giggles subsided as Megan managed to pick herself up off the floor.  
  
"I'd also like to know why I'm awake so bloody early on a Saturday," Megan said as she glared at Lily. Not being a morning person didn't even begin to describe Megan.  
  
"Something hit the window," Lily explained. "It spooked me so I dropped the lid to my trunk."  
  
As if on cue, there was another bang as something white splattered against the window. The four girls looked at each other and moved towards the window, Lily drawing her wand as she went. Sure enough, outside they could see Bellatrix and Jennifer bewitching snowballs to fly at the window. There were several more bangs as about five more snowballs hit the window.  
  
"So what are we going to do?" Karen asked, a bit of a smile starting to form.  
  
"This is too perfect," Lily said with a grin. "I've been wanting to test a spell out for ages."  
  
"Shield Charm?" Megan asked with a sly grin.  
  
"Yep," replied Lily.  
  
"Go for it!" Megan urged.  
  
Lily smiled and cracked the window open ever so slightly so that she could stick her wand out. "Protego!" she said as she gave her wand a little flick.  
  
"Did it work?" Carol asked.  
  
As if to answer Carol's questions, several more snowballs came flying towards the window, but instead of hitting it, they bounced off an invisible wall and sailed back down at the two Slytherins.  
  
"I think so," Lily said as she watched the two girls running for cover.  
  
"Merry Christmas!" Megan yelled out the window.  
  
Jennifer and Bellatrix shook their fists up at the girls but their words were lost, sending the four friends into peels of laughter.  
  
"They look so tiny from up here!" commented Carol, as they watched their two enemies disappear around the side of the castle.  
  
"You'd think they would've been smart enough to move before the snowballs hit them though," Karen said.  
  
"Yeah will, they may be book smart but they sure aren't smart in the practical sense," Megan said.  
  
"That's for sure," said Lily. "Did you hear what happened when Bellatrix tried to turn her toothpick into a needle?"  
  
"What?" the other three girls asked in unison.  
  
"Somehow she managed to set it on fire!" Lily said with a laugh. "Can you imagine what McGonagall's face must have looked like?"  
  
Megan scrunched up her nose, "Oh good heavens!" she said in a shrill voice that did sound surprisingly like McGonagall. "Miss Black! How on earth did you manage that?"  
  
The four dissolved into peels of laughter once more, unaware that down by the side of the castle, the other two girls were plotting revenge.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
After breakfast had been finished, those students who were going home for the holidays brought their belongings down to the front hallway.  
  
"Are we going home on the train?" Lily asked Megan while they waited for the horseless carriages to arrive.  
  
"Nope," Megan said. "Your parents meet you in Hogsmeade, which is where the train dropped us off."  
  
"I'm not sure my parents know where Hogsmeade is," Lily said, she was a bit worried now.  
  
"If they can get to Hogwarts to see the talent show I'm sure they can manage to find Hogsmeade," Megan said with a smile. "Don't fret Lily, it's the holidays! Just think! In less then a week it'll be Christmas which means looks of cake, cookies, candy, parties and, of course, presents!"  
  
"Oh no!" Lily exclaimed. "I still haven't gone Christmas shopping!"  
  
"Ah, don't worry about it," Megan said. "You can shop in Hogsmeade. They have the best candy shop there. It's called Honeydukes and it has the best candy you will ever taste in your entire life! They've got sugar quills, chocolate frogs, pepper imps, ice mice, giagantic lollipops that are three feet tall, Fizzing Whizzbees, levitating sherbert balls, Jelly Slugs-"  
  
"Talking about Honeydukes again Megan?" Zack asked with a grin, as he walked up beside the two girls.  
  
Megan ignored him and kept going, "-All kinds of different chocolate, toffee, coconut ice, barrels of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing gum, peppermint cream toads that hop in your stomache, and even more!" she finished. "Oh hi Zack!"  
  
Zack laughed, "You are one of a kind sis," he said.  
  
"Mom's going to let us shop around Hogsmeade right?" Megan said.  
  
"Yeah, I asked last night," Zack said.  
  
"Awesome!" Megan said. "I can show you around if you stay then, sound good Lily?"  
  
"Sounds great!" Lily said eagerly. She had a bit of a sweet tooth herself and wouldn't mind checking out Honeydukes' selection.  
  
When they carriages arrived Lily crowded into one with Megan, Sirius and, much to her displeasure, James. They road in stoney silence as it was all to clear that Lily did not wish to speak with James at all. Megan and Sirius seemed confused but knew better then to chatter simply to fill the silence. The carriages came to a halt near the train station, and as she stepped down onto the ground Lily caught sight of her mother standing with Mrs. Johnston, who waved at her.  
  
"Yes Lily," Mrs. Johnston said, before her daughter even opened her mouth. "You can go shopping in Hogsmeade."  
  
"Thanks mum!" Lily said with a big grin.  
  
"Come on! Let's go!" Megan said excitedly, and the two sped off down the street, Lily trailing a little behind Megan.  
  
Megan stopped so suddenly Lily almost ran into her.  
  
"This," Megan said, as she flourished her arms, "is Honeydukes!"  
  
As the two girls entered the shop a little bell tinkled and the woman behind the counter smiled at them. Lily couldn't believe her eyes! The shelves reached from the floor all the way to the ceiling and every inch of space was covered by candy. Giant-sized red and white candy canes caught her eye and she immediately moved towards them, noticing Megan headed straight for the piles of chocolate.  
  
Lily lost all sense of time as she browsed through the rows upon rows of candy. Finally, she made her purchases at the front counter; boxes of assorted goodies done up in bright coloured Christmas wrapping paper for her seven fellow Gryffindor girls, giant red and white candy canes for the eight Gryffindor boys (even James-afterall, it was Christmas) and a large box of Honeydukes best choloate for her parents. She knew better then to buy anything for Petunia, although Megan suggested acid pops and cockroach clusters as possible gifts that could be given under the ruse that they were fat-free candy. Lily had the feeling that the acid pops in particular did something unpleasant to whoever ate them, but she didn't want to find out by testing them herself.  
  
She literally had to drag Megan out of Honeydukes so that they could go look around the other shops. It was like being in Diagon Alley all over again because everywhere she turned Lily saw something new and exciting.  
  
"Have you heard?" Lily heard a woman saying as they browsed through Zonko's Joke Shop. "That shack up on the hill is haunted!"  
  
"Nonsense!" said the man she was talking too. "Probably just some students from Hogwarts playing tricks down there."  
  
"But I've heard the shrieks and howls," said the woman. "And it's always during the full moon."  
  
Lily nudged Megan, who had been listening intently to the conversation.  
  
"Is it Remus?" she asked quietly.  
  
Megan nodded, "I think so," she said, "But watcht this!" And before Lily could stop her, Megan had walked over to the woman.  
  
"Hi Mrs. Grimble, Mr. McCallum," Megan said.  
  
"Hello dear," said Mrs. Grimble, "I was wondering if I'd run into you. I saw your mother earlier."  
  
"Christmas shopping I suppose?" Mr. McCallum asked.  
  
Megan nodded, "Of course," she said.  
  
"Not thinking of playing pranks that could be mistaken for ghosts now are you?" Mr. McCallum asked with a smile.  
  
Megan shook her head, "Nah, those are boring," she said. "But have you heard about the supposed Shrieking Shack?"  
  
"As a matter of fact," Mrs. Grimble said, "We were just talking about it. I think it really is ghosts or something worse."  
  
"And I think it's a load of rubbish," said Mr. McCallum. "Probably just some of the older students from Hogwarts."  
  
"Well Professor Dumbledore said that we should avoid going near it," Megan said. "And I asked Nearly Headless Nick, you know, the Gryffindor ghost, about it and he said that there's some really nasty ghosts and demons in there. None of the Hogwarts ghosts will go anywhere near it-especially during the full moon, because that's when the evil spirits are the worst."  
  
Mr. McCallum looked surprised, "Really?" he said, "I thought it was just a lot of tosh!"  
  
"Well I for one refuse to go anywhere near it," Mrs. Grimble said. "If Nick avoids it there must really be a rough crowd in there because as I recall he doesn't scare easily."  
  
"Well, I'd better hurry up and finish here," Megan said, "Lots to do! Merry Christmas!"  
  
"Merry Christmas!" returned the two adults.  
  
Megan and Lily hurriedly paid for their items and left the shop, barely able to contain their laughter.  
  
"Oh wow," Megan said as they walked down one of the side streets towards the little shack, "Adults are so gulliable sometimes!"  
  
"Well look who it is," came a cold, drawling voice from behind them.  
  
Lily and Megan turned to see Malfoy flanked by the 12 other first year Slytherins, all with wands out, although Mildred Appleman and Jasmine Hazelwood were hanging back from the rest of the group. Lucas Avery, Rodolphus Lestrange and Eugene Wilkes looked apprehensive but the others, Bellatrix, Crabbe, Simon, Goyle, Malfoy, Evan Rosier, Snape and Jennifer looked rather menacing.  
  
"You do realize that 13 is an unlucky number, right?" Megan commented.  
  
Malfoy smirked, "I wouldn't have thought you'd be supertitious, Johnston," he said. "You don't really seem the type."  
  
"I have my reasons for believing in such things," Megan said simply, and Lily noticed that a she smirked slightly.  
  
_What is she doing?_ Lily thought, _Is she actually considering challenging 13 people at once?  
_  
Lily watched as Megan's casually folded her arms across her chest. Lily knew that Megan always carried her wand in her pocket and wondered why she hadn't drawn it yet.  
  
"Accio wand!" cried Jennifer and Megan's wand flew out of her pocket and over to Jennifer who caught it, smiling triumphantly. "Ha!" said Jennifer, "Now you have no wand so you can't stop us."  
  
"Oh really?" Megan said with raised eyebrows, "Is that so?"  
  
Lily noticed the Slytherins falter, as if unsure what Megan meant, but Lily knew and grinned. She'd seen the flash of colour dart between the trees as well.  
  
Megan looked around a little bit, "They say this is one of the most haunted places in Britain now," she said calmly. "Apparently it's a rough crowd who lives up in the shack now."  
  
"Oh please," Bellatrix said as she rolled her eyes. "That's riddiculous!" But her friends didn't look so sure.  
  
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea Bellatrix," said Jasmine, as she looked around.  
  
"Oh don't be stupid Jasmine," said Bellatrix, "You don't really believe in that rubbish do you?"  
  
But just then, Megan's wand flew out of Jennifer's hand and landed on the ground. Now even Bellatrix looked scared and at that precise moment, several snowballs began raining down on the Slytherins from behind.  
  
"Let's get out of here!" screamed Jennifer and the Slytherins ran for cover, snowballs chasing after them.  
  
Megan looked over and grinned at Lily. "see?" she said, "The boys aren't that bad."  
  
"I guess you're right," said Lily.  
  
James, Sirius, Remus, Aaron, Shawn and Steve had appeared from behind the trees grinning from ear to ear.  
  
"Merry Christmas!" they chorused.  
  
"Merry Christmas!" Megan and Lily replied.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
The next few days before Christmas passed in a blur of visits to relatives, shopping, wrapping presents, decorating and other preperations and today was no different. With only two days to go, the smell of Christmas cookies wafted upstairs to Lily's room from the kitchen where he mother was busy baking. Lily was doing her best to ignore it while she finished wrapping her presents but it was tempting to go downstairs to see if they were finished yet. Petunia could be heard in the next room moving about as she cleaned in anticiaption of her boyfriend Vernon's arrival.  
  
Lily finished tying the bow around Karen's present and looked over at Aesop who was watching her curiously from the corner.  
  
"Up for a trip?" she asked and he hooted in reply. Lily stood up with her packages and walked over to her owl. She pulled out a medium sized canvas bag and placed the six boxes of candy and cards that she'd gottan for the other Gryffindor girls inside, she'd be seeing Megan that afternoon and would give her her present then. She'd sent the boys presents yesterday so that Aesop wouldn't have such a heavy load to carry all at once. "Here you go," she said, as she tied the bag to Aesop's feet. "It shouldn't be too much trouble to find them all."  
  
Aesop hooted and then hopped over to the window, which Lily opened for him. He flew outside and disappeared into the clouds as Lily closed the window behind him. She looked at her clock which read 12:38pm; Megan would be arriving shortly after one o'clock and she had assured Lily she would be bringing along her best pranking supplies. Lily had 'accidently' let it slip that Petunia's boyfriend was also coming for the afternoon.  
  
Deciding she should go see if the cookies were done in case her mother needed a taste-tester, Lily headed downstairs.  
  
"Let me guess," her mother said, as Lily entered the kitchen. "You're looking for the cookies?"  
  
"Yep," Lily replied, "May I please have one?"  
  
"They're not quite done yet," replied her mother. "When Megan gets here the two of you can share a plate though OK?"  
  
"OK!" Lily said. She wandered into the living room and took a seat at the piano and decided to attempt to play a few Christmas carols, just to annoy Petunia. Lily had never been a very good piano player and it had been a long time since she'd had lessons. She pulled out her books, found "Jingle Bells" and began to play as loudly as possible.  
  
"Lily!" Petunia screeched from the top of the stairs, "Stop that racket this instant!"  
  
Lily pretended not to hear and continued playing.  
  
"ARGH!" Petunia yelled in frustration, before going and slamming her bedroom door shut.  
  
Lily smiled to herself and had to admit that Megan did have some rather useful ideas.  
  
The doorbell rang shortly after 1 o'clock and Lily hurried to answer it. However, instead of finding Megan she found..........  
  
"Hello Vernon," she said with a scowl.  
  
"Hello, um, Lily is it?" Vernon said.  
  
Lily glared at him, "Not to good with names are you?" she said.  
  
Vernon stared at her, completely at a loss for words for several seconds. "You're rather rude aren't you?" he said.  
  
"I'm the little sister," Lily said with a grin, "I'm supposed to be." She then turned and yelled at the top of her lungs, "PETUNIA! You're boyfriend's here!"  
  
Petunia came running down the stairs at top speed, almost falling in her haste.  
  
"Oh hi Vernon," she said in her fake, sweet voice, which always made Lily want to gag.  
  
"Hello Petunia," Vernon said with a smile that also made Lily want to gag.  
  
Petunia started to say something but at that precise moment a car door slammed in the driveway and Megan came running up.  
  
"Hey everyone!" Megan said as she came bounding up the front steps and into view. "Lily!" she said, when she caught sight of her friend, "Simply marvelous to see you!"  
  
Lily laughed at her friend, "Hey Megan!" she said.  
  
Vernon and Petunia were both looked shocked, and in Petunia's case, horror. Lily didn't think she'd ever seen her sister look so appalled.  
  
"You must be Petunia and Vernon," Megan said. "I'm Megan! I brought Christmas presents!" She thrust a pile of brightly wrapped Christmas presents into Vernon's arms. "You can put those under the tree," Megan said, "Come on Lily! Let's go outside and play in the snow!"  
  
Lily hurried to put on her snow things and the two girls went running out into the front yard. They quickly made a snow fort and began plotting ways to annoy Petunia and Vernon.  
  
"After all," Megan said, "It is expected that younger siblings be particularly annoying at oppurtune moments such as these."  
  
"So true," Lily agreed with a smile.  
  
They spent the rest of the afternoon running about and 'accidently' interupting Petunia and Vernon. ("Although what they do when they're by themselves is a mystery all of it's own," Lily had said to Megan. "I don't even want to know because I'd probably be scared for life.")  
  
Megan 'accidently' spilt her hot chocolate on Vernon when she 'tripped' on the rug. Lily mistakingly added salt to Petunia and Vernon's tea instead of sugar, claiming to have grabbed the wrong shaker because the regular ones had been replacd by their holiday counterparts. They had a snowball fight when Petunia and Vernon were leaving to go for a walk and pretended to have really bad aim so that the couple were pelted by way-ward snowballs. Upon their return, they were surprised to find that part of the pathway had been turned to ice by Lily and Megan's attempts to make a slide. The two girls were sliding down the forzen snowbank on a toboggan and skidded into the pair, knocking them over. All in all, it had been a very successful afternoon and when it was time for Megan to leave, she invited Lily to come to her family's New Year's Eve Party.  
  
"I'm inviting everyone else too," Megan said, "It should be so much fun!"  
  
"Cool!" said Lily.  
  
Unfortunately, once Vernon also left, Petunia rounded on her little sister and screamed for several minutes before their mother intervened.  
  
"Now, now Petunia," Mrs. Evans said, "I'm sure all of those things were just accidents."  
  
"Besides," Lily said, "If I really wanted to embaress you I would've used magic and told Vernon that I'm a witch."  
  
Petunia had then stormed up to her room and slammed the door behind her for the second time that day.  
  
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Christmas morning dawned bright and clear with lots of fresh fallen snow covering the neighbourhood. Lily bounded downstairs and was greeted by her parents (Petunia had refused to come out her room for the past few days unless absolutely necessary).  
  
Lily unwrapped her presents discovering a large quantity of sweets, some new clothes, books, a necklace, a couple of little trinkets and various other things. Her favourite gift though was from her parents, it was a little tiny box that could change it's size so that she could fit anything she wanted into it.  
  
"I found it in Hogsmeade," her mother explained, "I thought it would come in handy."  
  
Thanking her parents profusely, Lily settled in amongst the brightly coloured paper and began sorting through her presents. So far, the Christmas holidays had been quite rewarding.  
  
............................................................................................................  
  
So that's it for now everyone! Once again, I apologize for the very long and probably annoying wait. I'm really having trouble getting into the groove to work on this story and I'm not sure why. In the meantime, you may want to check out "Always Second Best" which is primarly about Ron and is quickly becoming my favourite story to write (next to "Harry Potter in a Crazy Little World" of course). I was offline for awhile because the original version of "Harry Potter in a Crazy Little World"-"Harry Potter in a Messed Up Little World"-was deleted by fanfiction so I've been trying to re-type all 44 chapters of that so I can repost them. Plus I get side- tracked very easily with everything else that's going on. I only work 4 days a week though so I get Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays off so those are the days I tend to update now. I'll try and update soon but I'm not promising anything. I do have an outline and I know where I want this story to go, it's just a matter of finding time and being interested. As you can see, I got bored with this chapter and it got pretty lame at the end. Anywho, please review!  
  
-Megan 


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